Opus 40, near Saugerties, New York, is the life work of Harvey Fite.   He bought the bluestone quarry in 1938, and spent the next 37 years constructing his Opus 40.

In the visitors’ center, we watched a short film about Fite and his work.

Beside the sheer size of this sculpture/stonework, I was most impressed by an aerial photograph of Opus 40.  There we could see the influence of the work Fite did in Honduras, restoring Mayan ruins.

Looking closely at the walls, I was amazed that Fite quarried and placed every single stone.  As we were leaving, we met a woman sitting on a golf cart.  It turned out that she was the wife of Fite’s stepson.  Pat lives with her husband in the house Fite built, and works to keep the monument a busy venue for visitors and concerts.

I wished that my father could have seen Fite’s Opus and his other sculptures.  My father was a sculptor whose work showed similar influences of his era: Arp, Noguchi, and Moore.  He would have enjoyed Opus 40.

Learn more about Opus 40 at   https://www.opus40.org/