List of sculptures in Central Park
Encyclopedia
A total of 29 sculptures have appeared over the past century and a half in New York City's 843 acres (3.4 km²) Central Park
. Most have been donated by individuals or organizations, few by the city itself. While many early statues are of authors and poets along "Literary Walk" and American figures like Daniel Webster
and "the Pilgrim", other early works were simply picturesque, like The Hunter and The Falconer; other notable statues include sled dog Balto
, the so-called "Cleopatra's Needle
"— an Egyptian obelisk
— Alice
of Wonderland, and most recently Duke Ellington
.
Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxins six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925.
ENDURANCE • FIDELITY • INTELLIGENCE
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe
The design of the sculpture attracts many children who want to climb its many levels, resulting in the bronze's glowing patina, polished by thousands of tiny hands over the years since the sculpture was unveiled. It was cast at Modern Art Foundry Astoria Queens NY.
In addition, temporary exhibitions of sculpture are mounted in the Doris Freedman Plaza, a concrete and cobblestone area located just outside the southeast entrance walkway to the park, behind the Sherman Monument.
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. Most have been donated by individuals or organizations, few by the city itself. While many early statues are of authors and poets along "Literary Walk" and American figures like Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
and "the Pilgrim", other early works were simply picturesque, like The Hunter and The Falconer; other notable statues include sled dog Balto
Balto
Balto was a Siberian Husky sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the...
, the so-called "Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. The London and New York ones are a pair, while the Paris one comes from a different original site where its twin remains...
"— an Egyptian obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
— Alice
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
of Wonderland, and most recently Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
.
Authors and historical figures
- The 107th Infantry Memorial is dedicated to the men who served in the 107th New York Infantry Regiment, originally Seventh Regiment of New YorkSeventh Regiment of New YorkThe Seventh Regiment of New York , now referred to as the 7th Regiment New York State Militia, was a State Defense Force which was established in 1806 and has gone through numerous redesignations...
, during World War I. The regiment was, as its name implies, stationed in New York, and consisted of males mainly from this region. In 1917, the National GuardUnited States National GuardThe National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
's 7th New York Infantry Registry Division. While in France, they saw heavy action, and at the end of the war in November 1918, of the 3,700 men originally in the regiment, 580 men were killed and 1,487 wounded, with four of the regiment's soldiers being awarded the CongressionalUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. The memorial depicts seven men; the one to the far right carrying two Mills bombMills bombMills bomb is the popular name for a series of prominent British hand grenades. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades in the world.-Overview:...
s, while supporting the wounded soldier next to him. To his right another infantryman (depicting Robert Russell Bennett, a 107 combat veteran who was asked by the artist to model for the statue along with 6 other actual 107 veterans of the Somme) rushes towards the enemy positions, while the helmet less squad leader and another soldier are approaching the enemy with bayonets fixed. To the far left, one soldier is holding a mortally wounded soldier, keeping him on his feet. The bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
memorial was donated by 7th-107th Memorial Committee, and was designed and sculpted by Karl Illava, who served in the 107th IR as a sergeant in World War I. The monument was first conceived about 1920, was made in 1926–1927 and was placed in the park and unveiled in 1927, near the perimeter wall at Fifth Avenue and 67th Street.
- Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
, the famous Danish fairy-tale writer, his most notable work being "The Ugly DucklingThe Ugly Duckling"The Ugly Duckling" is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen . The story tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from his neighbors until, much to his delight , he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all...
". His statue features him sitting and reading to a stray duck. The 1956 work by sculptor Georg J. LoberGeorg J. Lober-Background:Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1892, Lober moved to Keyport, New Jersey as a teenager. He later married Eleanor Campbell, daughter of Thomas and Anna Campbell and had one son...
was constructed with contributions from Danish and American schoolchildren. It was cast at Modern Art Foundry Astoria Queens NY.
- BaltoBaltoBalto was a Siberian Husky sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the...
was dedicated to the sled dogs that led several dogsled teams through a snow-storm in the winter of 1925 in order to deliver medicines that would stop a diphtheriaDiphtheriaDiphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
epidemic in NomeNomeNome may refer to:A country subdivision:* Nome an administrative division within ancient Egypt.* Nome , the administrative division immediately below the peripheries of Greece Places:* Nome, Norway* Nome, Alaska, US...
, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. The sculpture is slightly larger than the real-life dog, and is placed on a rock outcropping on the main path leading north from the Tisch Children's Zoo. The sculpture was created by Frederick George Richard Roth, and placed in the park in 1925. Like so many other monuments in the park, it's made of bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
, and it was donated to the park by the Balto Monument Committee to the City of New York. Under the sculpture, a small plaque can be found, containing the following inscription:
ENDURANCE • FIDELITY • INTELLIGENCE
- The equestrian sculptureEquestrian sculptureAn equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin "eques", meaning "knight", deriving from "equus", meaning "horse". A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an "equine statue"...
of Simón BolívarSimón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
was originally sited on the rock outcropping between 82nd and 83rd Streets overlooking Central Park WestCentral Park WestCentral Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
, where the Bolívar Hotel, once facing it, commemorates its location. After Sixth Avenue was renamed Avenue of the Americas in 1945, the sculpture was relocated in the 1950s to be paired with that of José de San MartínJosé de San MartínJosé Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
at the head of the avenue.
- The Burnett Memorial Fountain, dedicated to the author Frances Hodgson BurnettFrances Hodgson BurnettFrances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was an English playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, in particular The Secret Garden , A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.Born Frances Eliza Hodgson, she lived in Cheetham Hill, Manchester...
, was placed in the Conservatory GardenConservatory GardenThe Conservatory Garden is the only formal garden in Central Park, New York City. Comprising , it takes its name from a conservatory that stood on the site from 1898 to 1934. The park's head gardener used the glasshouses to harden hardwood cuttings for the park's plantings. After the conservatory...
when it reopened in 1936, a donation by the ad-hoc Children's Garden Building Committee. It was designed and created by Bessie Potter VonnohBessie Potter VonnohBessie Potter Vonnoh was an American sculptor best known for her small bronzes, mostly of domestic scenes, and for her garden fountains.- Early years :...
between 1926 and 1936. When Frances Hodgson Burnett died in 1924, some of her friends wanted to honor her memory by creating a storytelling area in Central Park. They chose the Conservatory Garden's south garden, at 104th Street and Fifth Avenue, as the site for the memorial. It is believed that the two figures, a reclining boy playing the flute and the young girl holding the bowl, represent Mary and Dickon, the main characters from The Secret GardenThe Secret GardenThe Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was initially published in serial format starting in the autumn of 1910, and was first published in its entirety in 1911. It is now one of Burnett's most popular novels, and is considered to be a classic of English children's...
.
- In 1892, the sculpture of Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
was donated to Central Park by the New York Genealogical and Biographical SocietyNew York Genealogical and Biographical SocietyThe New York Genealogical and Biographical Society is a non-profit educational institution located at 36 West 44th Street in New York City. Founded in 1869, it is the second-oldest genealogical society in the United States...
in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of his arrival in the Americas. The statue replicates one made by Jeronimo SuñolJeronimo SuñolJeronimo Suñol y Pujol was a Spanish sculptor whose early training was in the atelier of Agapit and Venanci Vallmitjana, perfecting his art at Rome where he maintained a studio for many years...
in 1892, located at the Plaza de Colon, in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The New York version was placed in the park in 1894 at the foot of the Mall, and is today one of two monuments of Columbus found in the park's environs, the other being the statue surmounting the column at Columbus CircleColumbus CircleColumbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South , and Central Park West, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from...
. The sculpture depicts the explorer standing with outstretched arms, looking towards the heavens in gratitude for his successful voyage.
- The Jagiello Grunwald Monument is an equestrian statue of King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland, holding over his head two crossed swords, is the largest sculpture in Central Park. The monument commemorates the medieval Battle of GrunwaldBattle of GrunwaldThe Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
, where Polish knights supported by Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Czech, and Tatar knights defeated the Teutonic Order. POLAND is inscribed on both sides of the plinth, and in the front lower-right corner is engraved the name of the sculptor, Stanislaw K. Ostrowski (1879–1947), who created this bronze monument for the Polish 1939 New York World's Fair1939 New York World's FairThe 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
pavilion. As a result of the outbreak of the World War II, the monument stayed in New York; in July 1945 it was presented to the City of New York by the King Jagiello Monument Committee and permanently placed in Central Park with the cooperation of the last pre-Communist consul of Poland in New York, Kazimierz Krasicki. The King Jagiełło monument is situated on the east side of the Turtle PondGreat Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central ParkThe Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park, are inseparable features of New York City's Central Park.-History:The lawn and pond occupy the almost flat site of the rectangular, thirty-five-acre Lower Reservoir constructed in 1842, which was an unalterable fixture of the location of Central Park as...
, across from Belvedere CastleBelvedere CastleBelvedere Castle is a building in Central Park in New York, New York, that contains exhibit rooms and an observation deck.-Early history:Built as a Victorian folly in 1869, the castle caps Vista Rock, the park's second-highest natural elevation Constructed of Manhattan schist quarried in the park...
and southeast of the Great LawnGreat Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central ParkThe Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park, are inseparable features of New York City's Central Park.-History:The lawn and pond occupy the almost flat site of the rectangular, thirty-five-acre Lower Reservoir constructed in 1842, which was an unalterable fixture of the location of Central Park as...
.
- Fitz-Greene HalleckFitz-Greene HalleckFitz-Greene Halleck was an American poet notable for his satires and as one of the Knickerbocker Group. Born and reared in Guilford, Connecticut, he went to New York City at the age of 20, and lived and worked there for nearly four decades. He was sometimes called "the American Byron"...
has been described as the least known literary figure today on Literary Walk, despite being the only person to have a memorial unveiled by the then-president of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. HayesRutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
in 1877, ten years after his death in November 1867. The monument was funded by the use of public subscription, and had a long list of prominent guests and speakers at the dedication and unveiling of the monument, among them the president's cabinet, General of the ArmyGeneral of the ArmyGeneral of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field....
William T.ShermanWilliam Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, the poets Bayard TaylorBayard TaylorBayard Taylor was an American poet, literary critic, translator, and travel author.-Life and work:...
, George Henry BokerGeorge Henry BokerGeorge Henry Boker was an American poet, playwright, and diplomat.-Youth:Boker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was Charles S...
and William Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.-Youth and education:...
, as well as other notable citizens. The monument is made in bronze by James Wilson Alexander MacDonald, and is placed near the Literary Walk and The Mall. The monument has been thoroughly refurbished by The Central Park Conservancy, first by hot waxing it in 1983, and then again in 1992, as well as in 1999, when it was dewaxed, pressure-washed and repatinated, and then protected by a coating of a corrosion-inhibiting lacquer.
- The standing sculpture of Alexander HamiltonAlexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
standing in a grove of apple trees and crabapples west of the East Drive behind the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
was "presented by John C. Hamilton 1880", according to the inscription on its granite base. The donor was a descendant of Hamilton.
- Bust of the architect Richard Morris HuntRichard Morris HuntRichard Morris Hunt was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture...
at the Hunt Memorial, along with two other figures sculpted by Daniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
. Flanking the Hunt bust are statuettes, one holding a sculptor's mallet and a palette, representing the allied arts, while the other holds a model for the Administration Building at the ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, designed by Hunt. On the perimeter wall of Central Park, Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, opposite the Frick CollectionFrick CollectionThe Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
, which was built on the site of the Lenox LibraryLenox LibraryLenox Library may refer to:*Lenox Library *A former library now part of the New York Public Library...
, also designed by architect Hunt. The granite and marble Hunt memorial was designed by American architect Bruce PriceBruce PriceBruce Price was the American architect of many of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Château-type stations and hotels...
.
- Sir Walter Scott and Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
are sculpted in bronze by Sir John SteellJohn SteellSir John Robert Steell RSA was a Scottish sculptor. He was born in Aberdeen on 18 September 1804, but his family moved to Edinburgh around one year after his birth. He is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the Scott Monument...
, the eminent Victorian sculptor. It was unveiled in Central Park, New York in 1880. It was intended to be a companion statue to one of Sir Walter Scott by the same sculptor, erected some eight years previously. It was the first statue of Robert Burns to be erected outside Scotland and was a gift to the City of New York from Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York and the Scottish-American community. For this sculpture Steell closely followed the portrait of Robert Burns painted by Alexander Nasmyth in 1787. Seated on a tree stump with a quill pen in one hand, Burns looks up to heaven. He is thinking of his true love Mary Campbell, who died at an early age. It was to her that he had written the poem "Highland Mary" inscribed on the scroll at his feet. It therefore conformed closely to the popularly held image of the poet's likeness and was greatly admired, with casts being commissioned for statues in Dundee, London and Dunedin, New Zealand. The Dundee statue was unveiled only two weeks after the one in New York in 1880 and the third cast was erected in the Thames Embankment Gardens in London in 1884. The Dunedin statue was unveiled in 1887.
- Bronze sculpture of William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, on a stone pedestal, located to the south of the mall, southeast of Sheep's Meadow; this sculpture was erected with funds raised from a benefit performance of Shakespeare's Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
on November 25, 1864, at The Winter Garden TheatreThe Winter Garden Theatre (1850)The first theater in New York to bear the name The Winter Garden Theatre had a brief but important seventeen-year history as one of New York's premier showcases for a wide range of theatrical fare, from Variety shows to extravagant productions of the works of Shakespeare...
, in a performance by Edwin BoothEdwin BoothEdwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was an American actor and theatre manager.As a member of the illustrious Booth family of actors, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was overshadowed not only by his father Junius, Sr...
and their younger brother, John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
. John Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, who is most familiar for his over-lifesize standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street.-Early years:...
sculpted the work. Ward was arguably the dean of American sculpture at the time, and he is the source of more public sculpture in NYC than any other artist. This is the artist's second of four works in Central Park.
- The statue of Dr James Marion Sims by Thomas BallThomas Ball (artist)Thomas Ball was an American artist and musician. His work has had a marked influence on monumental art in the United States, especially in New England.-Life:...
was cast in Munich. It is located near Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street.
- The bronze bust of naturalist Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
by Gustav Blaeser (1813–1874) has stood since 1981 on a granite pedestal at Naturalists' Gate, 77th Street and Central Park WestCentral Park WestCentral Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
, opposite the corner of the American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
. The monument, donated by an ad-hoc association of German-Americans, the Humboldt Memorial Association, was dedicated at its original location at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue on September 14, 1869. Blaeser, who knew Humboldt, was said to have worked in part from Humboldt's death mask. The bronze was cast by Georg Ferdinand HowaldtGeorg Ferdinand HowaldtGeorg Ferdinand Howaldt was a German sculptor.-Biography:Howaldt was born in Braunschweig as the son of the silversmith David Ferdinand Howaldt. he learned silversmithing and went to Nuremberg, where he became friends with the sculptor Jacob Daniel Burgschmiet, who convinced him to change to...
, Braunschweig.
- The bronze standing figure of Daniel WebsterDaniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
by Thomas BallThomas Ball (artist)Thomas Ball was an American artist and musician. His work has had a marked influence on monumental art in the United States, especially in New England.-Life:...
stands on a high granite plinth at the confluence of two carriage drives near the foot of Strawberry Fields MemorialStrawberry Fields MemorialStrawberry Fields is a landscaped section in New York City's Central Park that is dedicated to the memory of the musician John Lennon. It is named after the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever".-Creation and location:...
, at approximately 72nd Street. Ball had circulated many examples of statuettes of this model. The over-lifesize bronze, cast in MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, was presented by Gordon W. Burnham in 1876. The plinth bears as a bronze legend Webster's famous phrases LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW AND FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE. .
Fictional characters
- One large sculpture depicts AliceAlice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)Alice is a fictional character in the literary classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There. She is a young girl from Victorian-era Britain.-Development:...
, from Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's 1865 classic Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
. The statue is located on East 74th street on the north side of Central Park's Conservatory Water. Alice is pictured sitting on a giant mushroom reaching toward a pocket watch held by the White Rabbit. Peering over her shoulder is the Cheshire cat, flanked on one side by the dormouse, and on the other by Mad HatterMad HatterHatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
, who in contrast to the calm Alice looks ready to laugh out loud at any moment. Publisher and philanthropist George T. Delacorte Jr.George T. Delacorte Jr.George T. Delacorte, Jr., founded the Dell Publishing Company in 1921. His goal was to entertain readers who were not satisfied with the genteel publications available at the time. The company was one of the largest publishers of books, magazines, and comics during its heyday...
ordered the sculpture from José de CreeftJose de CreeftJosé De Creeft was a Spanish-born American sculptor and teacher.-Life and work:...
, in honor of Delacorte's late wife, Margarita, and to the enjoyment of the children of New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Unveiled in 1959, de Creeft's sculpture tries to follow John TennielJohn TennielSir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...
's whimsical VictorianVictorian literatureVictorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria . It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century....
illustrations from the first edition of the book. According to various sources, Alice is said to look like de Creeft's daughter Donna. The Alice in Wonderland project's architects and designers were Hideo Sasaki and Fernando Texidor, who inserted some plaques with inscriptions from the book in the terrace around the sculpture. Margarita's favorite poem, "The Jabberwocky" is also included; chiseled in a granite circle surrounding the sculpture:
The design of the sculpture attracts many children who want to climb its many levels, resulting in the bronze's glowing patina, polished by thousands of tiny hands over the years since the sculpture was unveiled. It was cast at Modern Art Foundry Astoria Queens NY.
- The Angel of the Waters Bethesda FountainBethesda FountainBethesda Terrace overlooks The Lake in New York City's Central Park. It is on two levels, united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive to provide passage southward to the Elkan Naumburg bandshell and The Mall, of which this is the architectural culmination, the...
was not in the original "Greensward Plan", developed by Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
and Calvert VauxCalvert VauxCalvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
; the architectural middle of the park was called "The Water Terrace", for its placement beside The Lake, but the area became known as Bethesda Terrace after the fountain was unveiled in 1873. At the unveiling ceremony, the artist's brochure quoted a Biblical verse from the Gospel of St. John: Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called… Bethesda…whoever then first after the troubling of the waters stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. The fountain was designed and created by Emma StebbinsEmma StebbinsEmma Stebbins was among the first notable American woman sculptors.- Career :Born and raised in a wealthy New York family, Stebbins was encouraged by her family in her pursuit of art from an early age. In 1857, sponsored by her brother Col. Henry G...
, who became the first woman to receive a sculptural commission in New York City when she was commissioned to create this fountain. It was designed and created in 1868, but wasn't unveiled until 1873, when the park was officially completed. In 1988 the Central Park Conservancy cleaned, repatinated, and sealed the fountain with a protective coating, and it's washed and waxed annually in order to preserve it. The fountain can be found in the middle of the park, on the north side of 72nd Street.
- Eagles and Prey, designed and created by Christophe Fratin, is the oldest known sculpture in any New York City park. It is made of bronze, and was cast in Paris, France in 1850 and was placed in the park in 1863. The sculpture was donated by Gordon Webster Burnham, who also donated the statue of Daniel WebsterDaniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
, as well as statues in other cities. The monument depicts a goat, wedged accidentally between two rocks, which is about to be devoured by two eagleEagleEagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s. Their talons are sunk into the back of the goat as they flap their wings in victory.
- The Indian Hunter (1866) by John Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, who is most familiar for his over-lifesize standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street.-Early years:...
was shown at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867Exposition Universelle (1867)The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...
and made the sculptor's reputation. It was the first sculpture by an American sculptor to be sited in Central Park, in 1869; it stands on the pathway west of The Mall, between the Mall and Sheep Meadow, at approximately 66th Street.
- Still Hunt by sculptor Edward KemeysEdward KemeysEdward L. Kemeys was an American sculptor.He is best known for his sculptures of animals, particularly the two bronze lions that mark the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago Illinois.-Life:...
(1843–1907) was placed in the park in 1883. This bronze sculpture of a crouching cougar waiting to pounce, was created by Edward Kemeys, the famous American sculptor who also created the famous Hudson Bay wolves at the Philadelphia Zoo, and lions at the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago. Situated on a rock outcrop on the west side of the East Drive at the edge of the Ramble, the crouching animal has scared many joggers as they climb "Cat Hill" (formally Cedar Hill) and approach this life-size and realistic representation. Unlike the traditional sculptures of other animals in the park that sit on a base or pedestal, Kemeys situated his animal directly on the rock ledge. Kemeys was so interested in depicting his animals in a realistic mode that he traveled to the western states to see them in their native habitat.
- The Untermyer Fountain in Conservatory GardenConservatory GardenThe Conservatory Garden is the only formal garden in Central Park, New York City. Comprising , it takes its name from a conservatory that stood on the site from 1898 to 1934. The park's head gardener used the glasshouses to harden hardwood cuttings for the park's plantings. After the conservatory...
was donated by the family of Samuel Untermyer in 1947. The bronze figures, Three Dancing Maidens by Walter Schott (1861–1938), were executed in Germany about 1910.
Other Sculptures
- Friedrich SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, bust on Literary Walk - José MartíJosé MartíJosé Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
- Lehman Gates
- Bust of Victor HerbertVictor HerbertVictor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
by Edmund Thomas Quinn - Ludwig von Beethoven Monument
- Mother Goose, at the entrance to Rumsey Play Field
- Obelisk/Cleopatra's NeedleCleopatra's NeedleCleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. The London and New York ones are a pair, while the Paris one comes from a different original site where its twin remains...
- Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(Delacorte Theater) - Prospero and Miranda (Delacorte Theater)
- Sherman Monument
- Sophie Irene LoebSophie Irene LoebSophie Irene Loeb was a US journalist and social-welfare advocate.She was born Sophie Irene Simon. She was a school teacher in McKeesport, PA, at the East End Public School before she married A.F...
Drinking Fountain - The Falconer sculptureThe Falconer sculptureThe Falconer is a bronze sculpture in Central Park, New York City by English sculptor George Blackall Simonds.It depicts a human in an Elizabethan dress standing on a pedestal, holding a bird.The Falconer has a history of being vandalized...
- Tigress and Cubs
- William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- José de San MartínJosé de San MartínJosé Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
- Delacorte Musical Clock
- John Purroy MitchelJohn Purroy MitchelJohn Purroy Mitchel was the mayor of New York from 1914 to 1917. At age 34 he was the second-youngest ever; he is sometimes referred to as "The Boy Mayor of New York." Mayor Mitchel is remembered for his short career as leader of Reform politics in New York, as well as for his early death as an...
Monument - Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen
- Fred LebowFred LebowFred Lebow , who was born Fischel Lebowitz, was an avid runner and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with over 43,660 finishers in 2009...
- Thomas MooreThomas MooreThomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
bust, near The Pond - Giuseppe MazziniGiuseppe MazziniGiuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
, West Drive near 67th Street - 7th Regiment Civil War monument, West Drive opposite the Sheep Meadow
In addition, temporary exhibitions of sculpture are mounted in the Doris Freedman Plaza, a concrete and cobblestone area located just outside the southeast entrance walkway to the park, behind the Sherman Monument.