Atlas ( statue ) - Wikipedia Atlas ( statue ) Coordinates : 40 ° 45 ′ 32.12 '' N 73 ° 58 ′ 37.84 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.7589222 ° N 73.9771778 ° W ﻿ / 40.7589222 ; - 73.9771778 Atlas Artist Lee Lawrie Year 1937 ( 1937 ) Type Bronze 14 m ( 45 ft ) Location New York, New York, United States Atlas is a bronze statue in front of Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, New York City, across Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick 's Cathedral. The sculpture depicts the Ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding the heavens. It was created by sculptor Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan, and it was installed in 1937. The sculpture is in the Art Deco style, as is the entire Rockefeller Center. Atlas in the sculpture is 15 feet ( 4.6 m ) tall, while the entire statue is 45 feet ( 14 m ) tall, as high as a four - story building. It weighs 7 short tons ( 6,400 kg ), and is the largest sculpture at Rockefeller Center. The North - South axis of the armillary sphere on his shoulders points towards the North Star as seen from New York City. When Atlas was unveiled in 1937, some people protested, claiming that it looked like Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Later, painter James Montgomery Flagg said that Atlas `` looks too much as Mussolini thinks he looks ''. The piece has since been appropriated as a symbol of the Objectivist movement and has been associated with Ayn Rand 's novel Atlas Shrugged ( 1957 ). It has been featured in almost every episode of the television series 30 Rock, appearing in numerous establishing shots depicting the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building, where the series is set. Most Rainforest Cafe locations have a statue resembling this one in a waterfall with a fountain, with the words `` Rescue the Rainforest '' in green neon letters across the equator of the globe. See also Atlas ( architecture ) Farnese Atlas References Jump up ^ `` Examples of Art Deco in New York City ''. Archived from the original on 2010 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Atlas sculpture by Lee Lawrie ''. Archived from the original on 2010 - 08 - 26. Jump up ^ Dunlap, David W. ( 2008 - 05 - 04 ). `` Bringing a Smile ( Well, a Shine ) to a Burdened Statue of Atlas ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Atlas ( Statue in New York ) ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 12 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Art : Rockefeller Atlas ''. Time. 1937 - 01 - 11. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ Dianne L. Durante. Outdoor monuments of Manhattan : a historical guide. p. 141. Jump up ^ `` History of Atlas Shrugged ''. Ayn Rand Institute. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Rainforest Cafe ''. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 03. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlas statue. Atlas ( sculpture ) This public art article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlas_(statue)&oldid=799181599 '' Categories : Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan Bronze sculptures in New York City 1937 sculptures Art Deco sculptures and memorials Buildings and structures completed in 1937 1937 establishments in New York ( state ) Statues in New York City Nude sculptures in New York ( state ) Public art stubs Talk About Wikipedia Беларуская Français Русский Shqip Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 6 September 2017, at 03 : 57. About Wikipedia

Question: where is the atlas statue at rockefeller center
Answer: in front