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The Iroquois, a 35,000-pound 17 1/2 ton piece by sculptor Mark di Suvero went up in Fairmount Park last week. About 150 people attended an outdoor dedication ceremony June 27, despite scorching 93-degree heat.

Humanitarian and collector David Pincus financed the sculpture as a gift to the city. He met di Suvero almost 50 years ago, and they've been friends ever since. The dedication was held on his 80th birthday.

"For my eye, there's surely a quiet elegance in Iroquois, which I'm sure you'll all agree," Pincus said.

The abstract sculpture is composed of bright red paint on steel I-beams, reminiscent of di Suvero's use of industrial materials in his other works. He describes his sculptures as "painting in three dimensions with the crane as my paintbrush."

Before coming to Philadelphia, the sculpture was on loan to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. Now, it is located across from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the new statue of Rocky Balboa.

The work is adding to the city's collection of outdoor sculptures, which is among the largest in the world and includes the famed Robert Indiana Love statue, the Washington Monument in Eakins Oval, and the 45-foot-high Claes Oldenburg sculpture of a giant clothespin.

Mark A. Focht, executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission, described the collection as "what we like to think of as a museum without walls."

"If we want to be the next great city, we have to look like one," said Penny Balkin Bach, executive director of the Fairmount Park Art Association.

The sculpture is the seventh that di Suvero has named after Native American tribes or tribal nations. As a piece of abstract art, its connection to its namesake is not obvious.

"I've named pieces to honor poets, to honor people like Mother Teresa," di Suvero said. "The Iroquois was a great tribe that was part of this region."