Alice in Wonderland Monument
Central Park
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice. 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. Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson (1832-1898), an English mathematician and writer. Dodgson
was a lecturer of mathematics at Oxford University (1855-1881) and
published various mathematical treatises, among them Euclid and His
Modern Rivals (1879). He is best known, however, for the classics
of children's literature, Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through
the Looking Glass (1872). The two books, which have as their central character
a young girl named Alice, were lovingly illustrated by Sir John Tenniel.
They are based on stories which Dodgson originally invented to entertain
Alice Liddell, the second daughter of Henry George Liddell, Dean of
the Christ Church in Oxford. Dodgson's imaginary world is populated
by strange and wonderful creatures often engaged in fantastic escapades,
which at times provide thinly disguised commentary on English society.
Dodgson, writing as Carroll, also authored Phantasmagoria (1869),
Hunting of the Snark (1876), Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)
and Sylvie and Bruno (1889). 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.
Saturday, Jan 01, 2000
