The poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was a doctor in then rural Rutherford, NJ, when he published his first book of poetry in 1909. Among his many works is the poem “The Great Figure” (from Sour Grapes: A Book of Poems, 1921). It is Williams’ description of seeing a gold 5 on a red fire truck as it passed him on a dark and rainy night.

The Great Figure
Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
fire truck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city

The image was a lasting one. During the 1920’s, William Carlos Williams’ friend Charles Demuth (1883-1935) painted a series of poster-portraits including “The Figure 5 in Gold” (1928). The original painting “The Figure 5 in Gold” is owned by
the Metropolitan Museum of Art. www.metmuseum.org

In the late 1970s, a photographer friend showed Mariana Pagliere (the founder of Figure 5 Productions) his favorite painting from an art history book. It was “The Figure 5 in Gold.” He struck a deal with her: he would teach her photography in exchange for a needlework rendition of the painting. When the needlework was completed, the friend photographed it and presented her with a full-color print.

From poem to painting to print to needlework to photograph, the figure 5 is the original multimedia. It seemed a good name for a video and multimedia company.