List of sculptures in Central Park
Since 1863, twenty-nine sculptures have been erected within New York City's 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 the statue of Balto, an Egyptian obelisk called the "Cleopatra's Needle", Alice of Wonderland, and Duke Ellington Memorial.
Selected sculptures
Animals
- Balto was dedicated to the sled dogs that led several dogsled teams through a snow-storm in the winter of 1925 in order to deliver medicine that would stop a diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska. 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 bronze, 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:
- 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 Webster, 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 eagles. Their talons are sunk into the back of the goat as they flap their wings in victory.
- Still Hunt is a bronze sculpture of a crouching cougar waiting to pounce by sculptor Edward Kemeys, installed in the park in 1883. 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" and approach this life-size and realistic representation. Unlike the traditional sculptures of other animals in the park that sit on a stone base or pedestal, Kemeys situated his sculpture 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.
Artists
- Bust of the architect Richard Morris Hunt at the Hunt Memorial, along with two other figures sculpted by Daniel Chester French. 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 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, designed by Hunt. On the perimeter wall of Central Park, Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, opposite the Frick Collection, which was built on the site of the Lenox Library, also designed by architect Hunt. The granite and marble Hunt memorial was designed by American architect Bruce Price.
- Tucked into a dead end triangle of Central Park at East 96th/97th Street, the statue of Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen was first dedicated in 1894 and is the only statue of an artist displayed in any New York City park.
Fictional characters
- One large sculpture depicts Alice, from Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 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 Hatter, who in contrast to the calm Alice looks ready to laugh out loud at any moment. Publisher and philanthropist George T. Delacorte Jr. ordered the sculpture from José de Creeft, in honor of Delacorte's late wife, Margarita, and to the enjoyment of the children of New York. Unveiled in 1959, de Creeft's sculpture tries to follow John Tenniel's whimsical Victorian 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 Burnett Memorial Fountain, dedicated to the author Frances Hodgson Burnett, was placed in the Conservatory Garden when it reopened in 1936, a donation by the ad hoc Children's Garden Building Committee. It was designed and created by Bessie Potter Vonnoh 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 Garden.
Historical figures
- The equestrian sculpture of Simón Bolívar was originally sited on the rock outcropping between 82nd and 83rd Streets overlooking Central Park West, 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 adjacent to those of fellow Latin American revolutionary leaders José de San Martín and José Martí at the head of the Avenue of the Americas.
- In 1892, the statue of Christopher Columbus was donated to Central Park by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of his arrival in the Americas. The statue replicates one made by Jeronimo Suñol in 1892, located at the Plaza de Colon, in Madrid. 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 Circle. The sculpture depicts the explorer standing with outstretched arms, looking towards the heavens in gratitude for his successful voyage.
- The standing sculpture of Alexander Hamilton standing in a grove of apple trees and crabapples west of the East Drive behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art was "presented by John C. Hamilton 1880", according to the inscription on its granite base. The donor was the son of Hamilton. It was sculpted by Carl Conrads.
- The King Jagiello 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. 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 Pond, across from Belvedere Castle and southeast of the Great Lawn.
- The bronze standing figure of Daniel Webster by Thomas Ball stands on a high granite plinth at the confluence of two carriage drives near the foot of Strawberry Fields Memorial, at approximately 72nd Street. Ball had circulated many examples of statuettes of this model. The over-lifesize bronze, cast in Munich, 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..
Scientists
- The bronze bust of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt by Gustav Blaeser has stood since 1981 on a granite pedestal at Naturalists' Gate, 77th Street and Central Park West, opposite the corner of the American Museum of Natural History. 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 Howaldt, Braunschweig.
- The statue of Dr James Marion Sims
War Memorials
- The 107th Infantry Memorial is dedicated to the men who served in the 107th New York Infantry Regiment, originally Seventh Regiment of New York, 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 Guard'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 Medal of Honor. The memorial depicts seven men; the one to the far right carrying two Mills bombs, while supporting the wounded soldier next to him. To his right another infantryman 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 bronze 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.
Writers and poets
- Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish fairy-tale writer, his most notable work being "The Ugly Duckling". His statue features him sitting and reading to a stray duck. The 1956 work by sculptor Georg J. Lober was constructed with contributions from Danish and American schoolchildren. It was cast at Modern Art Foundry, Astoria, Queens, NY.
- Poet Robert Burns is sculpted in bronze by Sir John Steell, the eminent Victorian sculptor. It was unveiled in Central Park, New York in 1880. It was intended as a companion statue to Sir Walter Scott by the same sculptor, erected some eight years previously.
- Fitz-Greene Halleck has been described as the least known literary figure today on the "Literary Walk," despite being the only person to have a memorial unveiled by the then-president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes 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 Army William T.Sherman, the poets Bayard Taylor, George Henry Boker and William Cullen Bryant, 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.
- William Shakespeare, a bronze statue 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 Caesar on November 25, 1864, at The Winter Garden Theatre, in a performance by Edwin Booth, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. and their younger brother, John Wilkes Booth. John Quincy Adams Ward 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.
Other sculptures
- The Angel of the Waters / Bethesda Fountain was not in the original "Greensward Plan", developed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux; 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 Stebbins, 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 is 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.
- Indian Hunter by John Quincy Adams Ward was shown at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867 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.
- The Untermyer Fountain in Conservatory Garden was donated by the family of Samuel Untermyer in 1947. The bronze figures, Three Dancing Maidens by Walter Schott, were executed in Germany about 1910.
Complete list
| Name | Image | Location / GPS Coordinates | Designers | Year | IAS number | Notes |
| 7th Regiment Memorial Civil War Memorial | West Drive, opposite the Sheep Meadow | John Quincy Adams Ward, sculptor Richard Morris Hunt, architect Robert Wood & Company, foundry | Commissioned 1869 Dedicated 1874 | |||
| 107th Infantry Memorial 7th Regiment New York 107th United States Infantry World War I Memorial | East 67th Street & Fifth Avenue | Karl Illava, sculptor Rogers & Haneman, architects Fonderia G. Vignali, founder Davis & Gallanger, contractors | Commissioned 1920 Dedicated 1927 | |||
| Alice in Wonderland Margaret Delacorte Memorial | Central Park Conservatory Pond | José de Creeft, sculptor Hideo Sasaki, landscape architect Modern Art Foundry Ferando Texidor, designer | 1959 | |||
| Hans Christian Andersen | Central Park Lake, opposite East 74th Street | Georg J. Lober, sculptor Modern Art Foundry Otto Frederick Langman, designer | 1956 | |||
| Balto | Central Park East Drive & East 66th Street | Frederick Roth, sculptor Roman Bronze Works, foundry | 1925 | |||
| Beethoven Memorial Bust of Ludwig van Beethoven | The Mall | Henry Baerer, sculptor George Fischer & Brother Bronze Works | 1884 | |||
| Belvedere Castle | Belvedere Castle | Jacob Wrey Mould, architectural sculpture Calvert Vaux, architect | 1869 | Cockatrice Transom | ||
| Bethesda Fountain | Between Bethesda Terrace and The Lake | Emma Stebbins, sculptor Royal Foundry Jacob Wrey Mould, architectural sculpture Calvert Vaux, architect | Commissioned 1868 Dedicated 1873 | Angel of the Waters and Cherubs | ||
| Bethesda Terrace | Terrace Drive | Jacob Wrey Mould, architectural sculpture Calvert Vaux, architect | Looking south "Summer" relief panel | |||
| Simón Bolívar Monument Equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar | Bolívar Plaza, Central Park South & Avenue of the Americas | Sally James Farnham, sculptor Roman Bronze Works, foundry | Commissioned 1916 Cast 1920 Dedicated 1921 Relocated 1951 | In its original location at 83rd Street & Central Park West. | ||
| Arthur Brisbane Memorial Bench | 5th Avenue & 101st Street | Richmond Barthé, sculptor Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, architects | Installed 1939 | |||
| Burnett Memorial Fountain Mary and Dickon The Secret Garden | Conservatory Garden | Bessie Potter Vonnoh, sculptor Aymar Embury II, architect Roman Bronze Works, foundry | Commissioned 1926 Dedicated 1937 | The fountain honors children's author Frances Hodgson Burnett, and features her characters, Mary and Dickon, from The Secret Garden. | ||
| Robert Burns Memorial | Literary Walk, south end of The Mall | Sir John Steell, sculptor | Commissioned 1873 Dedicated 1880 | |||
| Central Park Boathouse Dedicatory Sculpture The Rowers | Central Park Boathouse | Irwin Glusker, sculptor | Commissioned 1968 Dedicated 1971 | |||
| Cherry Hill Fountain | Wagner Cove, south of The Lake | Jacob Wrey Mould, architectural sculpture | ||||
| City Employees Memorial Flagpole | The Mall, north side | Georg J. Lober, sculptor Otto Frederick Langman, architect | 1928 | |||
| Cleopatra's Needle Egyptian Obelisque | 82nd Street, west of Metropolitan Museum of Art | Erected by Thutmose III at the Temple of Tum at Heliopolis. | Carved 1500–1600 B.C. Gift of Egypt to the United States 1869 Dedicated 1881 | |||
| Christopher Columbus | East Drive, south of The Mall | Jeronimo Suñol, sculptor Napoleon LeBrun, architect Federico Masriera, foundry | Original 1886 Cast 1892 Dedicated 1894 | |||
| Conservatory Garden Center Fountain | 5th Avenue & 105th Street | 1927 | ||||
| Dancing Goat Fountain | Central Park Zoo, north of the Sea Lion Pool | Frederick Roth, sculptor Roman Bronze Works | Cast c. 1935 Installed 1937 | |||
| Decorative reliefs | Central Park Zoo | Frederick Roth, sculptor | c. 1934 | |||
Delacorte Clock
| Children's Zoo | Andrea Spadini, sculptor Edward Coe Embury, architect Fernando Texidor, designer | Cast 1964 Installed 1965 | The monkeys atop the tower ring the bell on the hour. The lower 6 animals twirl and parade around the tower on the hour and half-hour. | ||
| Frederick Douglass Memorial | Frederick Douglass Circle, Central Park North & Frederick Douglass Boulevard | Gabriel Koren, sculptor Algernon Miller, designer Quennell Rothschild & Partners, architects Polich-Tallix, foundry | Plaza & fountain 2005 Statue cast 2010 Dedicated 2011 | |||
| Daniel Draper Plaque | Belvedere Castle | Anton Brandts Subiesky, sculptor | Installed 1935 | |||
| S. Rankin Drew Memorial Tree Marker | 72nd Street, west of The Mall | Unknown sculptor | Installed 1928 | Drew was a silent movie actor/director who died in World War I. The American Legion planted an oak tree in his memory in 1920, and installed the marker in 1928. | ||
| Eagles Granite Eagles | Central Park Zoo | Rochette and Parzini, sculptors | Installed 1941 | Eight eagle statues salvaged from the First Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn, NY. | ||
| Eagles and Prey | Center Drive, opposite Lilac Walk | Christophe Fratin, sculptor | Cast 1850 Installed 1863 | |||
| Duke Ellington Memorial | Duke Ellington Circle, 5th Avenue & 110th Street | Robert Graham, sculptor | Proposed 1979 Dedicated 1997 | First New York City monument to an African-American artist. | ||
| The Falconer | West 72nd Street | George Blackall Simonds, sculptor Clemente Papi, foundry | Cast 1871 Installed 1875 | |||
| Fort Clinton Memorial McGowan's Pass Monument | Between 5th Avenue & East Drive, opposite 107th Street | William Welles Bosworth, designer | 1906 | Fort Clinton was built during the War of 1812 as part of New York City's defenses, and was later demolished. A mortar was unearthed at the site in the early 1900s. Bosworth designed a pedestal for the mortar and a memorial plaque. | ||
| Friedel Memorial Drinking Fountain | Runners Gate, 90th Street & 5th Avenue | Mark Rabinowitz, sculptor | Dedicated 1992 | |||
| Andrew Haswell Green Memorial Bench | East Drive, east of The Ravine | 1929 | ||||
| Group of Bears | Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground, 79th Street & 5th Avenue | Paul Manship, sculptor Paul King Foundry | Original 1932 Cast 1989 | |||
| Fitz-Greene Halleck Memorial | The Mall | James Wilson Alexander MacDonald, sculptor | Cast 1876 Dedicated 1877 | |||
| Alexander Hamilton | East Drive, west of Metropolitan Museum of Art | Carl Conrads, sculptor New England Granite Works | Dedicated 1880 | |||
| Victor Herbert Memorial Bust of Victor Herbert | The Mall, opposite the bandstand | Edmond Thomas Quinn, sculptor | 1927 | |||
| Honey Bear Fountain Dancing Bear | Central Park Zoo, north of the Delacorte Musical Clock | Frederick Roth, sculptor Roman Bronze Works | Cast c. 1935 Dedicated 1937 | |||
| Humboldt Monument Bust of Alexander von Humboldt | Explorers Gate, West 77th Street & Central Park West | Gustav Blaeser, sculptor Georg Howaldt & Son, foundry | 1869 | |||
| Richard Morris Hunt Memorial | 5th Avenue & 70th Street | Daniel Chester French, sculptor Bruce Price, architect Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, foundry | Commissioned 1896 Dedicated 1898 Allegorical figures 1900 | Bust of Richard Morris Hunt The exedra is flanked by two allegorical figures, Architecture and Painting and Sculpture. | ||
| Waldo Hutchins Memorial Bench | 72nd Street & 5th Avenue | Eric Gugler, architect Paul Manship, sculptor | Installed 1932 | There is a small sundial at the center of the bench. | ||
| Indian Hunter | West 66th Street, west of The Mall | John Quincy Adams Ward, sculptor L. A. Amouroux, foundry | Cast 1866 Dedicated 1869 | First work by an American sculptor installed in Central Park. | ||
| King Jagiello Monument | 79th Street, east of the Turtle Pond | Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski, sculptor Aymar Embury II, architect | Modeled 1908–09 Cast 1939 Installed 1945 | The equestrian statue was cast for the Polish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. | ||
| Knights of Pythias Memorial World War I Memorial | Memorial Grove | |||||
| Fred Lebow | Upper Reservoir Jogging Track, 90th Street & East Central Park Drive | Jesus Ygnacio Dominguez, sculptor | Cast 1994 | Lebow was a founder of the New York City Marathon, and ran in it until age 60. The posthumous statue was installed beside the Upper Reservoir Jogging Track in 2001, but each November it is moved near to the marathon's finish line. | ||
| Lehman Gates | Children's Zoo, 72nd Street Entrance | Paul Manship, sculptor Roman Bronze Works, foundry | Cast 1960 Dedicated 1961 | |||
| Levy Memorial Gates | Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground 5th Avenue & 79th Street | Walter Baretta, sculptor | Cast c. 1957 Dedicated 1958 | |||
| Loeb Memorial Fountain Sophie Irene Loeb Drinking Fountain | 5th Avenue, between 76th & 77th Streets | Frederick Roth, sculptor C. Dale Badgeley, architect | 1936 | The central pier features characters from Alice in Wonderland. | ||
| Lombard Lamp | East Drive & 60th Street | Carl Borner, sculptor | Original 1869 Cast c. 1979 | Gift from the City of Hamburg, Germany. | ||
| José Martí Monument Equestrian Statue of José Martí | Central Park South & Avenue of the Americas | Anna Hyatt Huntington, sculptor Domico Scoma Bronze Works, foundry | Cast 1959 Dedicated 1965 | |||
| Martin Memorial Birdbath | Central Park Zoo | Oronzio Maldarelli, sculptor | Dedicated 1942 | |||
| Bust of Giuseppe Mazzini | Sheep Meadow, West Drive, near 67th Street | Giovanni Turini, sculptor F. Matriati, architect George Fischer & Brother, foundry | 1878 | William Cullen Bryant delivered an address at the sculpture's unveiling. | ||
| John Purroy Mitchel Memorial | Engineers Gate, East 90th Street & 5th Avenue | Adolph A. Weinman, sculptor Thomas Hastings, architect Donn Barber, architect. | Commissioned 1921 Dedicated 1928 | Mitchel was the youngest mayor in New York City history. After losing re-election, he enlisted in World War I, and died in a training accident. | ||
| Thomas Moore Memorial Bust of Thomas Moore | East Drive, between 60th & 61st Streets | John G. Draddy, sculptor P. E. Guerin, foundry | Dedicated 1879 | |||
| Samuel Finley Breese Morse Memorial | 72nd Street & 5th Avenue | Byron M. Pickett, sculptor M. J. Power Bronze Founder | Commissioned 1870 Dedicated 1871 | |||
| Mother Goose | Entrance to Rumsey Play Field | Frederick Roth, sculptor | 1938 | |||
| William Church Osborn Memorial Gates | Entrance to Ancient Playground, 5th Avenue, between 84th & 85th Streets | Paul Manship, sculptor Aymar Embury II, architect | Cast 1952 Dedicated 1953 | |||
| The Pilgrim Pilgrim Fathers Monument | Pilgrim Hill, 72nd Street | John Quincy Adams Ward, sculptor Richard Morris Hunt, architect Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, foundry | Cast 1884 Dedicated 1885 | |||
| Pulitzer Fountain "Fountain of Abundance" Pomona | Grand Army Plaza 59th Street & 5th Avenue | Karl Bitter, sculptor Thomas Hastings, architect Karl Gruppe, sculptor Orazio Piccirilli, sculptor Isidore Konti, carver | Commissioned 1898 Dedicated 1916 | Pomona Following Bitter's death in 1915, Gruppe and Konti completed the Pomona statue. | ||
| Romeo and Juliet | Delacorte Theater | Milton Hebald, sculptor Spartaco Dionesi Foundry | Cast 1978 Installed 1978 | |||
| Rumsey Tablet | Gateway to Mary Harriman Rumsey Playground | Unknown sculptor | Installed 1937 | |||
| Equestrian statue of José de San Martín | Central Park South & Avenue of the Americas | Anthony de Francisci, sculptor Radelli y Gemelli, foundry Clarke, Rapuano and Holleran, landscape architects | Original 1862 Cast c. 1940–1950 Dedicated 1951 | A copy after Louis Joseph Daumas's 1862 sculpture in Buenos Aires. | ||
| Schiller Memorial Bust of Friedrich von Schiller | Poets Walk, north side of The Mall | Charles Ludwig Richter, sculptor | Dedicated 1859 | First sculpture installed in Central Park. | ||
| Sir Walter Scott Memorial | Literary Walk, south end of The Mall | Sir John Steell, sculptor | Original c. 1845 Cast 1871 Dedicated 1872 | |||
| William Shakespeare | 67th Street & The Mall | John Quincy Adams Ward, sculptor Robert Wood & Company, foundry Jacob Wrey Mould, designer Henry Parry, carver | Proposed 1864 Commissioned 1870 Cast 1871 Dedicated 1872 | Commemorates the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth – April 23, 1564. | ||
| Sherman Monument William Tecumseh Sherman | Grand Army Plaza 5th Avenue & Central Park South | Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor A. Phimister Proctor, sculptor Charles Follen McKim, architect Norcross Brothers, contractor | Commissioned 1892 Dedicated 1903 | |||
| Sisters of Charity Plaque | West of 106th Street | Dedicated 1995 | Mount St. Vincent Academy/Central Park Hospital Commemorates Mount St. Vincent Academy, a convent and school run by the Sisters of Charity of New York. The building was converted into a military hospital during the Civil War, and demolished in 1917. | |||
| Snowbabies | Gateway to Mary Harriman Rumsey Playground | Victor Frisch, sculptor | Installed 1938 | |||
| William T. Stead Memorial | 5th Avenue & 91st Street | George James Frampton, sculptor Carrere & Hastings, architects | Original 1913 Dedicated 1920 | Stead was a British journalist who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. This is a copy of the 1913 Stead Memorial in London. | ||
| The Still Hunt The Panther | East Drive | Edward Kemeys, sculptor M. J. Power Bronze Founder | Commissioned 1881 Installed 1883 | |||
| Charles B. Stover Memorial Seat "Whisper Bench" | Shakespeare Garden | Unknown sculptor | Installed 1935 Dedicated 1936 | |||
| Strawberry Fields Memorial John Lennon Memorial | West 72nd Street & Terrace Drive | Bruce Kelley, landscape architect | Dedicated 1985 | The "Imagine" mosaic was created by stone masons in Naples, Italy, who donated it to Central Park. | ||
| Sundial | Shakespeare Garden | Walter Beretta, sculptor | 1945 | |||
| The Tempest Prospero and Miranda | Delacorte Theater | Milton Hebald, sculptor A. Ottavino Corp., foundry | Commissioned 1966 Dedicated 1973 | |||
| Thorvaldsen Memorial Bertel Thorvaldsen Statue Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen | East side, between 96th & 97th Streets | Cast 1892 Dedicated 1894 | A bronze copy after the Danish sculptor's 1839 self-portrait. Commissioned by the United Danes, Norwegians and Swedes of New York and Brooklyn to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Thorvaldsen's death. | |||
| Tigress and Cubs | Central Park Zoo | Auguste Cain, sculptor F. Barbedienne, foundry | Cast 1866 Dedicated 1867 | |||
| Untermyer Fountain Three Dancing Maidens Fountain of the Three Dancing Maidens | Conservatory Garden | Walter Schott, sculptor H. Gladenbeck & Son, foundry | Cast c. 1910 Dedicated 1947 | Schott's original fountain won a Gold Medal at the 1910 Brussels World's Fair. | ||
| USS Maine National Monument | 59th Street & Columbus Circle | Attilio Piccirilli, sculptor Harold Van Buren Magonigle, architect | Commissioned 1901 Dedicated 1913 | Columbia Triumphant South side: Victory, Courage, Peace, Fortitude North side: The Warrior, Justice, History | ||
| USS Maine Memorial Tablet | USS Maine National Monument | Charles Keck, sculptor | Cast 1913 Installed 1936 | Cast of metal from the destroyed battleship. | ||
| Vanderbilt Gate | Conservatory Gardens, 5th Avenue & 105th Street | Unknown sculptor | Installed 1938 | |||
| Daniel Webster | West 72nd Street & West Drive | Thomas Ball, sculptor | Statuette cast 1853 Statue cast 1876 Dedicated 1876 |
Former sculptures
| Name | Image | Location / GPS Coordinates | Designers | Year | IAS number | Notes |
| Auld Lang Syne "Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie" | 5th Avenue, by the Casino | Robert Thomson , sculptor | Carved 1862 Dedicated 1866 Moved to storage Damaged in a fire 1881 | |||
| Simón Bolívar Monument Equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar | Central Park West & 83rd Street | R. de la Cora , sculptor | Installed 1884 | The awkward statue was removed by the 1890s. A proposed Bolívar statue by Giovanni Turini, to be placed on the same base, was rejected in 1897. The current Bolívar statue, by Sally James Farnham, was installed in 1921. | ||
| Bust of Miguel de Cervantes | Fernando Miranda y Casellas, sculptor | Modeled c. 1878 Installed by 1892 Removed after 1918 | Sketch of the unexecuted Cervantes Monument. | |||
| Commerce | 8th Avenue, near 59th Street | Installed 1865 | ||||
| Shepard Fountain | East Drive, opposite 78th Street | Olin Levi Warner, sculptor Unknown carver | Dedicated 1891 Moved to Central Park c. 1898 Destroyed 1953 | The marble drinking fountain was first installed in Union Square, where it was vandalized. It was moved to Central Park about 1898, but deteriorated, and was removed in 1953. | ||
| Dr. J. Marion Sims Memorial | 103rd Street & 5th Avenue | Ferdinand von Miller II, sculptor Aymar Embury II, architect | Cast 1892 Dedicated 1894 Removed 2018 | Sims used enslaved women for his gynecological research. The memorial became controversial in the 2000s when this became widely publicized. The statue was removed on April 17, 2018, and will be relocated to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where Sims is buried. | ||
| Swan and Cygnet Boy with Swan | "near 5th Avenue entrance" | Theodor Kalide, sculptor | Original 1834 Donated 1863 | Kalide's Boy with Swan was placed in the Charlottenburg Palace Gardens in Berlin in 1849. 1863 Annual Report: "Feb. 28. One Bronze Fountain—Boy and Swan—presented by Thomas Richardson, Esq." |
Temporary sculptures
| Name | Image | Location / GPS Coordinates | Designers | Year | IAS number | Notes |
| Volatile Presence Valley Marker Interrupted Messenger Measured Presence | Central Park Plaza | Beverly Pepper, sculptor | 1983 | |||
| The Gates | Various 7,503 "gates" on of pathways | Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists | Proposed 1979 February 12–27, 2005 | The Gates was meant to evoke the procession of Japanese gateways leading to Shinto shrines. | ||
| V W X Yellow Elephant Underwear / H I J Kiddy Elephant Underwear | Doris Freedman Plaza 5th Avenue & 60th Street | Chinatsu Ban, sculptor | April 8 – July 24, 2005 | |||
| Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads | Pulitzer Fountain 5th Avenue & 59th Street | Ai Weiwei, sculptor | May 4 – July 15, 2011 | |||
| Doris Freedman Plaza | 2011 | |||||
| How I Roll | Doris Freedman Plaza 5th Avenue & 60th Street | Paola Pivi, artist | June 20 – July 18, 2012 | The Piper Seneca would slowly rotate head-over-tail. The sculpture was scheduled to be exhibited until August 26, but mechanical problems caused it to be removed in July. |