Central Park: The Early Years

Central Park: The Early Years is now available in print and as a Kindle ebook from Amazon, in print from Barnes & Noble, and via Ingram with standard discounts for booksellers…

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Carving Out an Unlikely Writing Niche

Some of my greatest inspiration and encouragement has come from hearing how other writers carved out their niches — so here’s why I’ve been writing about outdoor sculptures in New York City…

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Giovanni da Verrazzano, by Ettore Ximenes

This essay is adapted from Chapter 3 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Outdoor Monuments has been “translated” into a fabulous app that…

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Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park

This post is adapted from the Guides Who Know app on Central Park. Artist: Georg John Lober Date: 1955 Medium & size: Bronze, over lifesize. Location: Central Park, on the…

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William Cullen Bryant Memorial, by Herbert Adams

This essay is adapted from Chapter 36 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Outdoor Monuments has been "translated" into a fabulous app…

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Columbus by Suñol, in Central Park

This essay is adapted from Chapter 36 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide.  I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book.  Sculptor: Jeronimo Suñol. Pedestal: Napoleon Le Brun.…

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Columbus Monument at Columbus Circle

This essay is adapted from Chapter 35 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide.  I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book.  Sculptor: Gaetano Russo. Dedicated: 1892. Medium and size:…

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Read more about the article Politics and Portrait Sculptures
Left to right: Jeronimo Sunol, Christopher Columbus, dedicated 1894 in Central Park. John Quincy Adams Ward, George Washington, dedicated 1883 at Wall Street. William Ordway Partridge, Alexander Hamilton, 1892, near Hamilton Grange. Ferdinand von Miller II, Dr. J. Marion Sims, 1892, Central Park. Anna Hyatt Huntington, Jose Marti, dedicated 1965, Central Park. All photos copyright © 2017 Dianne L. Durante

Politics and Portrait Sculptures

Available as a printable PDF and as a video.  In the past few months, sculptures in Charlottesville, Baltimore, New York, and elsewhere have been lightning rods for love and for hate…

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Prometheus at Rockefeller Center, by Paul Manship

This essay is adapted from Chapter 28 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide.  I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book.  Sculptor: Paul Manship. Dedicated: 1934. Medium and size:…

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