Central Park

Central Park ({{coor dms|40|46|59|N|73|58|20|W|}}) is a large urban public park (843 acres or 3.41 km²; a rectangle 2.5 miles by one-half mile, or 4 km × 800 m) in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. An oasis for Manhattanites escaping from their skyscrapers, the park is well-known worldwide after its appearance in many movies and television shows, which has made it one of the world's most famous city parks.

Sculptures

Though Olmsted disapproved of the clutter of sculpture, a good deal has crept in. Much of the first statuary to appear in the park was of authors and poets, clustered along a section of the Mall that became known as Literary Walk. The better-known sculptors represented in Central Park include Augustus Saint-Gaudens and John Quincy Adams Ward.. The "Angel of the Waters" at Bethesda Terrace by Emma Stebbins, 1873, was the first large public sculture commission for an American woman. The 1926 statue of the sled dog Balto who became famous during the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska is very popular among tourists (illustration, below left). The oldest sculpture is "Cleopatra's Needle," actually an Egyptian obelisk of Tutmose III much older than Cleopatra,which was donated to New York by the Khedive of Egypt. North of Conservatory Water, the sailboat pond, there is a larger-than-life statue of Alice, sitting on a huge mushroom, playing with her cat, while the Hatter and the March Hare look on. A large memorial to Duke Ellington created by sculptor Robert Graham was dedicated in 1997 near Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, Duke Ellington Circle.

Related Topics:
Augustus Saint-Gaudens - John Quincy Adams Ward - Bethesda Terrace - Emma Stebbins - 1873 - 1926 - Balto - 1925 serum run to Nome - Cleopatra's Needle - Obelisk - Tutmose III - Alice - The Hatter - March Hare - Duke Ellington - Robert Graham - 1997

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