150 Public Artworks by League Artists

150 Artworks for 150 Years of the Art Students League

An Essay by Harriet F. Senie

The League has had many famous students and instructors mark the city’s urban spaces with works of public art. This essay highlight some of their many achievements. It is followed by a list of 150 works in chronological order of their fabrication and a map with their locations. Visit as many as possible and find your own surprises and favorites!

AugustusSaint Gaudens’ Admiral Farragut Monument (unveiled 1881) in Madison Square Park was his first public commission. His gold-plated General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument (1902) is located in Grand Army Plaza (Doris C.Freedman Plaza) also in Manhattan at the 60^th Street entrance to Central Park. Daniel Chester French’s seated Alma Mater (1903) is located on the steps ofLowe Library at Columbia University. His Continents (Asia, America, Europe, Africa) are seated at the entrance to the Customs House in Lower Manhattan.

Daniel Chester French’s Richard Morris Hunt Memorial is located along the Fifth Avenue perimeter of the Par at East 70^th Street. Hunt was the architect who introduced the French Beaux-Arts (also called the Second Empire Style) to the United States. Charles Keck’s statue of Francis P. Duffy (unveiled in 1937) located at Broadway and 46^th Street, is now best known as the marker of the site where people go for same day discount theater tickets. Duffy was a military chaplain and a priest in the Times Square area and taught French at what was the then the College of St. Francis Xavier (now a high school).

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Washington-Inwood Memorial (1922) dedicated to World War I is located between Broadway and Saint Nicholas Avenue between 167^th and 168^th Streets. It honors men from three branches of the military who fought in that war. Anna Hyatt Huntington’s El Cid is now in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America. A replica of her 1959 statue of Jose Marti was unveiled in in 2018 on Central Park South, Center Drive, West 59^th Street. Harriet Feigenbaum’s Memorial to Victims of the Injustice of the Holocaust is located on the side of the Appellate Division Courthouse on 25^th Street in Manhattan. At 27 feet high with flames along the length of the column, it is difficult to see from the ground.

Meredith Bergmann’s Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument (2020) located on Literary Walk along The Mall in Central Park is intended to commemorate the centennial of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. It is the first statue in the Park honoring actual women. It is, however, misleading. It conflates primary figures of the Suffrage movement, Anthony and Stanton, with Black Liberation advocate Sojourner. Truth is deserving of an individual monument. Here a standing Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are placed across from each other at a table with a standing Sojourner Truth. However, the women never worked together. Cady Stanton did the writing and Anthony was the spokesperson for the movement. The original submission without the figure of Truth included a scroll of quotes relevant to the suffragette movement.

Not exactly a memorial, Deborah Kass’s OY/YO in a rather sly humorous way acknowledges the different neighborhoods and languages for which New York City is known. OY is a kind of generic lament associated withYiddish while YO means “I am” in Spanish. Initially displayed in Brooklyn Bridge Park, today it can be seen outside the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History at the corner of 5^th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

There are also better known and loved sculptures whose main audiences are children of all ages. Without a doubt the most popular is Alice in Wonderland (1959) by Jose de Creeft located in Central Park at the Rumsey Playground at East Drive at 72^nd Street. I have never passed it without seeing it covered with children climbing all over it. There is also the added attraction of the nearby pool where you can watch adults and children sail toy boats.

Frederick George Richard Roth’s Mother Goose dedicated in 1938 features a central figure of a witch astride a goose encircled by bas-reliefs of Humpty Dumpty, Old King Cole, Little Jack Horner, Mother Hubbard, and Mary with her little lamb. Although popular, it doesn’t allow for much interaction. Roth’s Honey Bear and Dancing Goat (both ca. 1935) are each in a niche in the Central Park Zoo, near 64^th Street and Fifth Avenue. Although they are on a platform that circulates, the animals themselves don’t actually move. Nevertheless they always attract a rapt audience. Another favorite is Roth’s Balto (1925), an Alaskan husky and sled dog, located at on the East Side of Central Park at 67^th Street. I often see children and adults, myself included, stop to pet him.

Over the years the Art Students League has also commissioned a number of abstract works that could be classified as modern art or capital “A” art as it is sometimes called. Alexander Calder’s Le Guichet (1963) located at Lincoln Center Plaza near the Vivian Beaumont Theater. People regularly walk through it on their way to buy tickets to a performance. Louise Nevelson’s Shadows and Flags in downtown Manhattan behind Chase Manhattan Plaza and consists of a group of Cor-ten sculptures painted black. It was officially opened in 1978 and was one of the first plazas in the city to honor an artist and one of the first to honor a woman. Nevelson, then 80 years old, was actively involved with the siting; she chose the precise location.

With so many choices, it is both a challenge and just plain fun to find your own surprises and favorite! Happy Anniversary Art Students League!

Bronx:

• Daniel Hauben, A Sense of Place, 2012, painted mural. 40.85921, -73.91268.
• Naomi Campbell, Animal Tracks, 2004, glass mosaic. 40.84067, -73.87966.
• Roy Secord, Bronx Seasons Everchanging, 2018, glass mosaic and glazed tile. 40.8459, -73.91013.
• Priscila De Carvalho, Bronx: Heart, Homeland, 2015, stainless steel. 40.83422, -73.85165.
• Romare Bearden, City of Glass, 1982-1993, glass mosaic. 40.84016, -73.8429.
• Hildreth Meiere, Holy Family, 1942, oil and gold leaf on panel. 40.86102, -73.88936.
• Frances Gallardo, Line to Line, 2018, aluminum panels and paint. 40.90977, -73.84655.
• Hildreth Meiere, Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces, 1942, oil and gold leaf on wood panel. 40.86102,-73.88945.
• Hildreth Meiere, Saints,1942, oil and gold leaf on wood panel. 40.86102, -73.88945.
• Daniel Hauben, The El,2007, glass mosaic. 40.83017, -73.89169.
• Hildreth Meiere, The Journeys of St. Isaac Jogues in the New World, 1949, casein and gessorelief. 40.86103, -73.88944.
•  Hildreth Meiere, Three Jesuit Saints, 1942, oil and gold leaf on panel. 40.86102, -73.88936.

Brooklyn:

• Mordi Gassner, Astronomy, 1930-1931, charcoal and sanguine chalk on paper, mounted on linen. 40.69454,-73.98567.
• Mordi Gassner, Biology, 1930-1931, charcoal and sanguine chalk on paper, mounted on linen. 40.69454,-73.98567
• Al Loving, Brooklyn, New Morning, 2001, glass mosaic. 40.67881, -73.90387.
• Mordi Gassner, Chemistry, 1930-1931, charcoal and sanguine chalk on paper, mounted on linen. 40.69454,-73.98567.
• Karen Margolis, Cerebration, 2018, glass mosaic. 40.5928, -73.97825.
• Stephen Johnson, Dekalb Improvisation, 2005, glass mosaic. 40.69053, -73.98175.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, General Henry Warner Slocum, 1905, bronze and granite, 40.67345,-73.96918.
• Mordi Gassner, Geology, 1930-1931, charcoal and sanguine chalk on paper, mounted on linen. 40.69454,-73.98567.
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Henry W. Maxwell Memorial, 1996, bronze and granite. 40.67391, -73.96891.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, James S.T. Stranahan, 1891, bronze, marble, and pink granite.40.67213, -73.96955.
• Daniel Chester French, Lafayette Memorial, 1917, bronze and granite. 40.6645, -73.97658.
• Dan George, Mermade/Dionysus and the Pirates, 1999, aluminum plate. 40.57773, -73.96103.
• Deborah Kass, OY/YO, 2016, aluminum. 40.67126, -73.96362.
• Mordi Gassner, Physics, 1930-1931, charcoal and sanguine chalk on paper, mounted on linen. 40.69454,-73.98567.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, Quadriga: The Triumphal Progress of Columbia, 1898, bronze. 40.67299,-73.96988.
•  Sherwan Banfield, Sky’s the Limit in the Country of Kings, 2022, bronze, resin, and stainless steel.40.68005, -73.94563.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, The Army: Genius of Patriotism Urging American Soldiers on to Victory, 1900, bronze. 40.67294, -73.97.
• Takayo Noda, The Habitat for the Yellow Bird, 2007, faceted glass panels. 40.66835,-73.90158.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, The Horse Tamers, 1898; dedicated 1899, bronze and granite. 40.65158,-73.97169.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, The Navy: American Sailors at Sea Urged on by the Genius of Patriotism, 1901, bronze. 40.67297, -73.96977.
• Adolph Alexander Weinmann, William J Gaynor Memorial, 1926, bronze, stele, and granite. 40.69952,-73.9905.

Manhattan:

• Chaim Gross, Acrobats Family of Five, 1951, bronze. 40.73702, -73.99221.
• Augustus Saint Gaudens, Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, 1880; dedicated 1881, bronze and black granite. 40.74275,-73.98766.
• Daniel Chester French, Africa,1905, marble. 40.70423, -74.01374.
• Frederick George Richard Roth, African Antelopes, 1935, Indiana limestone. 40.7673, -73.97183.
• Jose DeCreeft, Alice in Wonderland, 1959, bronze. 40.77503, -73.96654.
• Daniel Chester French, Alma Mater, 1903, bronze. 40.80784, -73.96212.
• Daniel Chester French, America, 1905, marble. 40.70423, -74.01374.
• Hildreth Meiere, Annunciation,1 942, inlaid marble. 40.75861, -73.97619.
• Edwin Blashfield, Appellate Division, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219,-73.98654.
• Kenyon Cox, Appellate Division, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219,-73.98654.
• Joseph Lauber, Appellate Division, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219,-73.98654.
• Willard Leroy Metcalf, AppellateDivision, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219, -73.98654.
•  H. Siddons Mowbray, Appellate Division, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219,-73.98654.
•  Charles Yardley Turner, Appellate Division, 1899, painted mural. 40.74219,-73.98654. 
•  Daniel Chester French, Asia,1905, marble. 40.70423, -74.01374.
• Frederick George Richard Roth, Balto, 1925, bronze. 40.76997, -73.97102.
• Hildreth Meiere, Benedicite, 1956, stained glass. 40.75745, -73.97331.
• Laura Gardin Fraser, Bid-A-Weeplaque, 1913, bronze. 40.74594, -73.97098.
• James Garvey, Central Park Rustic Handrail, 1995, forged steel. 40.79237, -73.96342.
• Hildreth Meiere, Continents Linked by Telephone and Wireless, 1932, glass mosaic, colored plaster, and building tile. 40.72011, -74.00489.
• Karen Margolis, Continuum, 2023, handmade linen, abaca laminated over wire, maps, thread, cotton-covered wire, acrylic, and chicken wire. 40.75171, -73.99575.
• Hildreth Meiere, Dance, Drama, Song, 1932, mixed metal and enamel. 40.75998, -73.97997.
• Frederick George Richard Roth, Dancing Goat, 1937, bronze. 40.7673, -73.97191.
• John Seward Johnson II, Double Check, 1982, bronze. 40.70933, -74.01058.
• Ronnie Landfield, East of the Allegheny, 2009. 40.79997, -73.93929.
• Reginald Marsh, Eight New York Harbor Scenes and Eight Portraits of Great Navigators, 1936-1937, painted frescoes. 40.70399, -74.01368.
• Daniel Chester French, Europe, 1905,marble. 40.70423, -74.01374.
• Howard Chandler Christy, Fantasy Scenes with Naked Beauties, 1928-1935, oil paint. 40.77351, -73.97885.
• Charles Keck, Father Francis P. Duffy, 1937, bronze and green granite. 40.75903, -73.98508.
• Hildreth Meiere, Floraland Geometric Designs, 1929, glass mosaic. 40.76804, -73.96977. 
•  Faith Ringgold, Flying Home: Harlem Hereos and Heroines, mosaic mural, 40.80779, -73.94549.
• Hildreth Meiere, Gloriain Excelsis Deo, 1949, stained glass. 40.75745, -73.97331.
• Augustus Saint Gaudens, GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman, 1902; dedicated 1903, gilded bronze, granite, andbluestone. 40.7648, -73.97308.
• Alexander Stirling Calder, George Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice, 1918, marble. 40.73125, -73.99706.
• Jo Davidson, Gertrude Stein, 1992, bronze. 40.75333, -73.98313.
• Robert Laurent, Girland Goose, 1932, aluminum. 40.75999, -73.97997.
• Paul Manship, Group of Bears, 1990, bronze and granite. 40.77749, -73.96391.
• Edward Laning, Gutenberg Showing a Proof to the Elector of Mainz, 1938-1942, painted mural. 40.75319,-73.98225
• Chaim Gross, Happy Children, 1973, bronze. 40.82004, -73.94927.
• Frederick George RichardRoth, Honey Bear, 1937, bronze, 40.76819, -73.97122.
•  Anthony de Francisci, Independence Flagstaff, 1926, steel, copper sheathing, granite, and bronze. 40.73591,-73.9903.
• Robert Blackburn, In Everything There is a Season, 2005, ceramics and glass. 40.79863, -73.94162
•   Anna Hyatt Huntington, Jose Julian Marti, 1959; dedicated 1965, bronze and dark barre granite. 40.76606,-73.97609. 
• Charles A. Platt, Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain, 1912, bronze and granite. 40.754, -73.98411.
•  Diana Schmertz, Language to Dream, 2024, dye sublimation on aluminum. 40.80308, -73.93504.
•  James Garvey, Lariat Seat Loops, 1997, bronze. 40.74617, -73.98199.
•  James Garvey, Lariat Tapers, 2011, bronze. 40.7064, -74.00948.
• Alexander Calder, LeGuichet, 1963, sheet metal, bolts, and paint. 40.77306, -73.98308.
• Charles A. Keck, Letters, 1915, granite. 40.80816, -73.96378.
• Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze. 40.74047, -74.0203.
• Frederick George Richard Roth, "Loeb Memorial Fountain," 1936, granite. 40.77577,-73.96508.
• Lisa Dinhofer, Losing My Marbles, 2003, glass mosaic. 40.75721, -73.98968.
• Hildreth Meiere, Magnificat, 1948, stained glass. 40.75745, -73.97331.
• Harriet Feigenbaum, Memorial to the Victims of the Injustice of the Holocaust, 1990, marble. 40.74218,-73.98652.
• Vincent Smith, Minton's Playhouse (uptown), 1999, mosaic mural, 40.80204, -73.94967.
• Edward Laning, Moses with the Tablets of Law, 1938-1942, painted mural. 40.75319, -73.98225
• Frederick George Richard Roth, Mother Goose, 1938, granite. 40.77263, -73.96963.
• Chaim Gross, Mother Playing, 1961, bronze. 40.77121, -73.98508.
• Roy Lichtenstein, Mural with Blue Brushstroke, 1986, painted mural. 40.76191, -73.98221.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, Nathan Hale, 1890; dedicated 1893, bronze and pink granite. 40.71242,-74.00639.
• Jacob Lawrence, New York in Transit, 2001, glass mosaic. 40.75526, -73.98693.
• Hildreth Meiere, Nunc Dimittis, 1955, stained glass. 40.75745, -73.97331.
• Derek Fordjour, PARADE,2018, glass and ceramic mosaic. 40.82042, -73.93624.
• Joyce Kozloff, Parkside Portals, 2018, glass and ceramic tile mosaic. 40.78599, -73.96885.
• Greg Wyatt, Peace Fountain, 1985, bronze. 40.80348, -73.96305.
• Charles A. Hafner, Peter Pan, 1975, bronze, and black granite. 40.77513, -73.94325.
• Paul Manship, Prometheus,1934, bronze. 40.75872, -73.97858.
• Hildreth Meiere, Radio and Television Encompassing the Earth, 1932, mixed media and enamel. 40.75903,-73.97998.
• Daniel Chester French, Richard Morris Hunt Memorial, 1898, bronze and granite. 40.77159, -73.96785.
• Hildreth Meiere, Red Room, 1931, glass mosaic, 40.7075, -74.01163.
• Milton Hebald, Romeo and Juliet, 1978, bronze. 40.78047, -73.96872.
• Charles A. Keck, Science, 1925, granite. 40.80816, -73.96378.
• Hildreth Meiere, Six Days of Creation, 1930, glass mosaic. 40.75746, -73.97334.
• Louise Nevelson, Shadows and Flags, 1978, steel. 40.70762, -74.00793.
• Frederick William MacMonnies, Spandrel Figures of Victory, 1895, marble. 40.73122,-73.99711.
• Ronnie Landfield, SpiritPast, Spirit Present, 2009. 40.79997, -73.93929.
• David Fried, Stemmer,2018, mirror polished stainless steel. 40.74389, -73.9735.
• Tony Smith, Tau (1/3),1961, steel and black paint. 40.76782, -73.96443.
• Hildreth Meiere, Telephone Wires and Radio Unite to Make Neighbors of Nations, 1932, glass mosaic, colored plaster, and building tile. 40.72011, -74.00489.
• Linnaea Tillett, TheBattery Bosque, 2008, LED lights and optical fiber. 40.70293, -74.01536.
• Chaim Gross, The Family, 1979, bronze and red granite. 40.73603, -74.00525.
• Sidney Simon, The FourSeasons, n.d, 40.76223, -73.98693.
• George Grey Barnard, The Great God Plan, 1898-1899, bronze. 40.80805, -73.96277.
• Dean Cornwell, The History of Transportation, 1946, painted mural. 40.75883, -73.97881.
• Edward Laning, The Linotype - Mergenthaler and Whitelaw Reid, 1938-1942, painted mural. 40.75319,-73.98225.
• Edward Laning, The Medieval Scribe, 1938-1942, painted mural. 40.75319, -73.98225.
• Vincent Smith, The Movers and Shakers (downtown), 1999, mosaic mural, 40.80204, -73.94967.
• Jack Beal, The Onset ofWinter, 2005, mosaic mural. 40.75526, -73.98693.
• Louis Bouche, The Phantasmagoria of the Theater, n.d, painted mural. 40.75999, -73.97997.
• Tom Otterness, The Real World, 1992, bronze. 40.71813, -74.01537.
• Jack Beal, The Return of Spring, 2001, mosaic mural. 40.75526, -73.98693.
• John Seward Johnson II, The Right Light, 1983, bronze. 40.74602, -73.97914.
• Milton Hebald, The Tempest, 1966, bronze. 40.7805, -73.96863.
• Tony Smith, Throwback(1/3), 1976-1979, aluminum and black paint. 40.75656, -73.98162.
• Roy Lichtenstein, Times Square Mural, 2002, porcelain enamel on steel. 40.75526, -73.98693.
• Hildreth Meiere, Transfiguration, 1929, glass mosaic. 40.75744, -73.97334.
• Hildreth Meiere, TwoAngels, 1935, paint, gesso, and gold enamel on wood. 40.76073, -73.9759.
• Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1964, mixed media. 40.77187, -73.98362.
• Milton Glasner, Untitled, 1986, porcelain enamel panels. 40.73005, -73.9911.
• James Garvey, Urban Monks Gate, 2010, iron. 40.72303, -73.99751.
• Ann Shaumburger, UrbanOasis, 1997, glass mosaic. 40.76489, -73.97298.
• Attilio Piccirilli, U.S.S. Maine Monument, 1916, gilded bronze. 40.76825, -73.981.
• Edmond Thomas Quinn, Victor Herbert, 1927, bronze and granite. 40.77273, -73.97218.
• Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial, 1923, bronze andgranite. 40.84038, -73.93988.
• Meredith Bergmann, Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument, 2020, bronze. 40.77069, -73.9723
• Chaim Gross, Young Performers, 1973, bronze, 40.71107, -74.00471.

Queens:

• ‍‍Sherwin Banfield, Passenger Relief, 2019, tinted winterstone. 40.77346, -73.88547.
• James Little, Radiant Memories, 2020, laminated glass. 40.69991, -73.80763.
• Romare Bearden, Recollection Pond, 1975, wool tapestry. 40.70065, -73.79537.
• Simon Levenson, The Beaches of New York, 2011, glass block. 40.59244, -73.78927.
• Philip Evergood, The Story of Richmond Hill, 1936, painted mural. 40.70085. -73.83175

Staten Island:

• Sherry Edmundson Fry, Major Clarence T. Barrett Memorial, 1915, bronze and marble. 40.6418, -74.07583.
• George Thomas Brewster(original figure) Diane and Glenn Hines (replacement figure), Pleasant Plains Memorial, 1923, bronze and black granite. 40.52388, -74.21605.
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Richard Randall, 1884, bronze and granite. 40.64486, -74.1033.

Outside of 5 boroughs:

• Chaim Gross, Caring, 1987, bronze. 40.80965, -73.64279
• Malin Abrahamsson, On the Trail of the Rising Sun, 2008, mosaic. 40.66148, -73.70466.
• Marc Dennis, Where Dreams Come to Play, 2018, laminated glass windows and mosaic panels. 40.67297,-73.50913

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