Central Park

This bronze sculpture by Paul Manship (1885–1966) depicts a group of three bears on a circular stepped pedestal. Located at the Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground at Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, the piece was a gift from Samuel N. Friedman in memory of his wife, Pat. The piece was cast in 1960 and unveiled on October 11, 1990 at the playground’s dedication.

Smaller versions of the piece are featured on part of the William Church Osborn Gates (1952) and the elaborate Paul J. Rainey Memorial Gates (1933) found at the Bronx Zoo, and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Manship’s most famous work is the gilded Prometheus (1934), located at the west end of the lower plaza of Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center.