Material: Bronze, granite
This impressive sculptural group, on the north side of Central Park's Conservatory Water, is the work of the Spanish-born, French-trained sculptor Jose de Creeft (1900-1982). Publisher and philanthropist George Delacorte (1893-1991) commissioned the sculpture as a tribute to his late wife Margarita, and as a gift to the children of New York City. Dedicated by Robert Moses on May 7, 1959, the bronze statuary depicts characters from Lewis Carroll's whimsical Alice in Wonderland, published in 1862.
Cast by Modern Art Foundry of Long Island City, Queens, the statues represent many of Dodgson's best known creations, including the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, and the Cheshire Cat. The central figure of Alice was based on the artist's daughter Donna, while many of the features and costumes are inspired by the earlier Tenniel illustrations. De Creeft worked in many media, and created numerous stone carvings. The Alice in Wonderland project's architect and designer were Hideo Sasaki and Fernando Texidor, who inserted plaques with inscriptions from the book in the terrace around the sculpture.
The area around the model boat pond-the scene of the fictional Stuart Little's exploits aboard a fragile craft-encompasses a cluster of monuments with themes from children's literature. Also in the park are the Sophie Irene Loeb Fountain (1936), near East 76th Street, with figures from Alice in Wonderland by Frederick G. R. Roth; on the west side of Conservatory Water the statue of Hans Christian Anderson and the Ugly Duckling (1956) by Georg John Lober; and on the east side of Rumsey Playfield the Mother Goose (1938), also by Roth. Yet it is perhaps De Creeft's Alice in Wonderland sculpture, that makes tangible the stories which sprang from the mind of Lewis Carroll, which has most captivated generations of young New Yorkers.
