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New York City's 843-acre (3.41 km) Central Park is the home of many works of public art in various media, such as bronze, stone, and tile. Many are sculptures in the form of busts, statues, equestrian statues, and panels carved or cast in low relief. Others are two-dimensional bronze or tile plaques. Some artworks do double-duty as fountains, or as part of fountains; some serve as memorials dedicated to a cause, to notable individuals, and in one case, to a notable animal. Most were donated by individuals or civic organizations; only a few were funded by the city.

Examples of public art in the park include memorials dedicated to notable individuals such as the poet William Shakespeare and the statesman Daniel Webster; depictions of archetypical characters such as The Pilgrim, Indian Hunter, and The Falconer; depictions of literary characters such as Alice in Wonderland; numerous depictions of imaginary animals, and at least one of a real one (the statue of Balto). The only artifact from the ancient world is the Egyptian obelisk known as "Cleopatra's Needle", the oldest and tallest artwork in the park.

Traditionally, depictions of real (as opposed to imaginary) humans were men, whereas depictions of women have been either mythological characters (angels or goddesses) or characters from literature. The installation in 2020 of the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument, depicting three female activists, was a first step in addressing this oversight.

In recent years, park administrators have provided a forum for temporary exhibitions of artwork at the Doris Freedman Plaza, just outside the park's southeast entrance.

List of public art in Central Park

Public art in Central Park now removed

Name	Location / GPS Coordinates	Dates & Designers	Notes
Auld Lang Syne aka "Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie"	5th Avenue, by the Casino.	Robert Thomson , sculptor; carved in 1862; dedicated in 1866; moved to storage; damaged in a fire 1881.
Equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar	Central Park West & 83rd Street	Installed in 1884; R. de la Cora , sculptor.	The statue was removed by the 1890s. A proposed replacement by Giovanni Turini, to be placed on the same base, was rejected in 1897. The current statue, by Sally James Farnham, was installed in 1921.
Bust of Miguel de Cervantes		Fernando Miranda y Casellas, sculptor. Modeled ca 1878; installed by 1892; removed after 1918.	Sketch of the unexecuted Cervantes Monument (1878).
Commerce	8th Avenue, near 59th Street	Installed 1865.
Shepard Fountain (destroyed)	East Drive, opposite 78th Street	Olin Levi Warner, sculptor; Unknown carver. Dedicated in 1891 (Union Square) Moved to Central Park ca 1898; destroyed in 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. IAS Number: 88100201
Dr. J. Marion Sims Memorial	On Fifth Avenue opp. 103rd St. 40°47′33″N 73°57′10″W / 40.792489°N 73.952641°W / 40.792489; -73.952641 (Dr. J. Marion Sims)	Ferdinand von Miller II, sculptor; Aymar Embury II, architect. Cast in 1892; dedicated in 1894; removed in 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. IAS Number: 76003548
Swan and Cygnet aka Boy with Swan	"near 5th Avenue entrance"	Theodor Kalide, sculptor; original 1834 (Germany); donated in 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 installations of public art

Notes

References

1. Kahn, Eve (October 2021). "The Woman who was Victory". The Magazine Antiques. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
2. "Emma Stebbins, who sculpted a New York angel," The New York Times, May 29, 2019.
3. "Hans Christian Andersen". Central Park Conservancy. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
4. Susanne Stephens. “Snack stand for Central Park Ball Field,” The New York Times, July 12, 1990, Section C, page 3. According to the article, the frieze was designed by William Braham, an architect at Buttrick White & Burtis, and fabricated by Brenda Bertin.
5. "Balto, (sculpture)". Shahbaz Akhtar. Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York, New York survey. 1993. Retrieved February 7, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
6. Central Park's version of the sculpture is signed "J. SUÑOL"; it bears the foundry mark of Federico Masriera, Barcelona, 1892.
7. Arcidi, Philip (December 1993). "Learning by the Rules" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
8. "The Arts and Crafts in Architecture Today," Classicist No. 3 (1996–97): 90–96. According to the article, the plaque was designed by Michael Dwyer, an architect at Buttrick White & Burtis, and fabricated by Brenda Bertin.
9. Arcidi, Philip (December 1993). "Learning by the Rules" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
10. "Duke Ellington Memorial dedicated in Harlem," from ArtNet.
11. "Tablet is unveiled at old Fort Clinton," The New York Times, November 25, 1906.
12. Andreas W. Daum, "Nation, Naturforschung und Monument: Humboldt-Denkmäler in Deutschland und den USA" . Die Kunst der Geschichte: Historiographie, Ästhetik, Erzählung, ed. Martin Baumeister et al. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009, 113‒15.
13. Central Park 2000: Alexander von Humboldt; NYC Dept of Parks & Recreation: Alexander von Humboldt Monument
14. ""Sculpture"". Architects and Builders Magazine. 2 (8): 350. May 1901. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
15. Daniec, Jadwiga Irena (1982). "In the Footsteps of Stanislaw K. Ostrowski, 1879–1947". The Polish Review. 27 (1/2): 77–91. JSTOR 25777864.
16. Mazzini address
17. "The Untermyer Fountain". Central Park Conservancy. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
18. "Daniel Webster". Central Park Conservancy. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
19. Kolodny, Sarah (July 24, 2018). "First Statue of Real Women to Debut in Central Park in 2020". NBC New York. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
20. Halle, Howard (July 24, 2018). "Central Park's first-ever female statue is coming in 2020". Time Out New York. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
21. "The Lost Auld Lang Syne Sculpture in Central Park," Daytonian in Manhattan, June 18, 2012.
22. Michael Reed, "The Equestrian Monument of Simon Bolivar."
23. Theodore Dreiser, "The Sculpture of Fernanado Miranda," Ainslee's Magazine 2 (September 1898), pp. 113–18.
24. The Sun's Guide to New York (1892), p. 122
25. "Cervantes. A Monument to be erected in Central Park to the memory of the famed Spanish Writer," The New York Herald, May 18, 1878.
26. Illustrated in A Description of the New York Central Park. With illustrations by Albert Finch Bellows (1869), p. 92.
27. Shepard Fountain, from SIRIS.
28. Rebecca Savransky, "Central Park statue of controversial doctor who conducted research on women removed," The Hill, April 18, 2018.
29. The Boy with Swan, from Christies London.
30. Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of the Central Park for the Year Ending with December 31, 1863. New York. Wm. C. Bryant & Co. 1864. page 56.
31. Carol Vogel, "The Murakami Influence," The New York Times, April 6, 2005.
32. Rich Calder, "Shoddy work cut short Central Park art exhibit: suit," The New York Post, October 18, 2013.

External links

• O Ryan's Roughnecks – History of the 7th Regiment, National Guard New York
• The Central Park Conservancy
• NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation – Eagles and Prey statue
• Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide Essays on the Sherman Monument, Simón Bolívar, José Martí, Maine Monument, Columbus Monument, Columbus by Sunol, Shakespeare, Richard Morris Hunt Memorial, King Jagiello, Alexander Hamilton
• ALICE IN CENTRAL PARK — STATUES IN WONDERLAND by G.A. Mudge, visual reference of the statues in central park, with historical comments.

v t e Central Park
Manhattan, New York City
Geographical features Cedar Hill Conservatory Garden Conservatory Water Great Lawn and Turtle Pond Harlem Meer Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir McGowan's Pass North Woods and North Meadow The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary The Ramble and Lake Rat Rock Sawkill (historical) Seneca Village (historical) Sheep Meadow Strawberry Fields
Sculptures and public art 107th Infantry Memorial Alice in Wonderland sculpture Angel of the Waters Balto Simón Bolívar Burnett Memorial Fountain Robert Burns Christopher Columbus Cleopatra's Needle Delacorte Clock Duke Ellington Memorial Frederick Douglass Memorial Eagles and Prey The Falconer Fitz-Greene Halleck Alexander Hamilton Victor Herbert Indian Hunter King Jagiello Monument José Martí Giuseppe Mazzini Samuel Finley Breese Morse Romeo and Juliet José de San Martín Sir Walter Scott Seventh Regiment Memorial William Shakespeare J. Marion Sims (moved 2018) The Gates (temporary, 2005) The Tempest Untermyer Fountain Three Dancing Maidens USS Maine National Monument Daniel Webster Women's Rights Pioneers Monument
Other features Arsenal Ballplayers House Belvedere Castle Bethesda Terrace and Fountain Blockhouse Bridges Bow Carousel Central Park Casino (demolished) Cherry Hill Fountain The Dairy Delacorte Theater Diana Ross Playground Fort Clinton Heckscher Playground Lasker Rink Mall Marionette Theatre McGown's Pass Tavern (demolished) Richard Morris Hunt Memorial Rumsey Playfield Tarr Family Playground Tavern on the Green Victorian Gardens Wollman Rink Zoo Zoo York Wall Zoo York
Events Be-Ins The Concert UAE Healthy Kidney 10K New York Mini 10K Concerto: One Night in Central Park Shakespeare in the Park SummerStage
Transport Border roads Frederick Douglass Circle 110th Street Duke Ellington Circle Eighth Avenue Central Park Fifth Avenue Columbus Circle 59th Street Grand Army Plaza Transverses 66th 79th 85th 97th Subway stations Fifth Avenue–59th Street 59th Street–Columbus Circle 72nd Street 81st Street 86th Street 96th Street 103rd Street Cathedral Parkway–110th Street Central Park North–110th Street
Notable figures Elizabeth Barlow Rogers Andrew Haswell Green Jacob Wrey Mould Frederick Law Olmsted Ignaz Anton Pilat Starr Saphir Calvert Vaux Egbert Ludovicus Viele George E. Waring Jr.
Notable animals Barry Flaco Gus Mandarin Patinkin Pale Male Pattycake
Miscellaneous Birdwatching incident Conservancy Jogger case Medical Unit Popular culture
See also: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

• Sculptures in Central Park
• Lists of outdoor sculptures in the United States
• Lists of statues
• Manhattan-related lists
• Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan
• Central Park