Saturday, October 31, 2009

Alice In Wonderland in Central Park


All photos will enlarge when clicked on

Alice In Wonderland is Central Park's most loved sculpture. It is located on the East side of the park, near 74th Street, north of the Conservatory Water. The eleven foot tall sculpture depicts the favorite characters from Lewis Carroll's book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Philanthropist George Delacorte commissioned the sculpture from José de Creeft in 1959, to honor his wife Margarita. The design is patterned on the illustrations drawn by John Tenniel for the first edition of the book.
Children are permitted, and in fact encouraged, to climb on the sculpture, and as you can see in this photo there was a little girl in a pink hat and another with a pink skirt, who were having fun climbing over Alice's magic mushrooms.

The sculpture is so popular that it usually looks like this on weekends when there are many children in the park. They flock to the sculpture and climb all over it, as their watchful parents surround them.

Here we see The March Hare checking his pocket watch.

Alice and her cat Dinah.

The Mad Hatter, who is rumored to be a caricature of Delacorte, the patron that sponsored the piece

Engraved bronze plaques inserted in a circle around the, and contain lines from Lewis Carroll's poem "The Jabberwocky."

A nice feature installed near major Central Park attractions are signs like the one above. If you dial the phone number, and enter the extension, a recording of a well known actor, or actress, will tell you information about the attraction. Actress Whoopi Goldberg climbed over Alice In Wonderland when she was a child, so she is the one to tell you all about the sculpture as this is her favorite.

To see more views of beautiful Central Park please visit here and here.

Since it is Halloween, I couldn't end this post without showing you my favorite little "trick or treater"! It's my grandson's first Halloween and he's a Lion, the King of the Jungle this year!


Happy Halloween!


I'm linking this post to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound "Pink Saturday" blog event. If you like the color pink please go to Beverly's blog today and see links for many other participating blogs that have pink posts today. Thanks Beverly!



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43 comments:

~Cheryl said...

It is wonderful when artwork is kid friendly! Love your darling lion! Happy Halloween to you, too.

Anonymous said...

It is so nice to see a public place that actually allows children to participate. Whoopie is the perfect voice to narrate it...
Happy Halloween!!
Love,
Marilyn

California Girl said...

The Alice sulpture is my favorite too. Every time I visit the city, we hit the park and I find it. I didn't know the history so it's nice to read about it. Wonderful gift to the city.

The photo of your grandson is the best. It is so beautiful it looks like an advertisement! Did you take it?

Happy Halloween!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I can only imagine how fun it would be as a child to visit this. I love the March Hare.
Happy Halloween up there in NYC.
Sam

Unknown said...

Oh...I would love to go there, sounds so much fun! Happy Halloween Pat, love/M

steviewren said...

How fun to be a child and be able to sit under a toadstool for a day! It looks like a fun place to play.

Your little lion is adorable in his Halloween costume. Precious picture!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

That sculpture was one of the first things I visited when I went to NY for the first time more than 40 years ago. But the best thing on your post is that little lion. What a cutie and such a great photo. Happy Halloween.

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

I love Central Park--one of my favorite places to visit but I haven't seen this work of art. I'll have to put it on my list of things to see. . .Happy Halloween!

Grace said...

Love Alice Sculpture also! I have to say your grandson is the cutest little lion around! Happy Pin Saturday and Have a great Halloween with the Lion Prince! Hugs Grace

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Happy pink Saturday, Pat. I have always loved that statue and actually made a special trip to the park many years ago to show it to my children. My youngest,17 year old son, told me that he stood up in his English class last week and recited the Jabberwocky...much to my surprise. He then recited it to me...funny the things we don't know about our kids. Have a wonderful weekend.
♥, Susan

Char said...

I have always loved that story. That's a beautiful sulpture and I love that children can enjoy it as well, what fun, Happy Pink Saturday and Happy Halloween, Char

Mary Bergfeld said...

How cute is he! I love the statue but the babe stole the show. Have a great Pink Saturday. Happy Halloween.

Junie Moon said...

I love that you posted about this park on Halloween day. What fun for the children and it's great they're allowed to climb on the structural pieces.

Your grandson looks adorable, what a great picture.

aliceinparis said...

Rawr!Happy Halloween little lion:))

That Alice statue is fantastic. It's great that the kids can scramble all over it:)Delightful!

Just A Girl said...

Hi Pat,
I'm so sorry I haven't been around much lately. I'm not doing a good job of keeping my plates in the air at the moment, but am hoping to do a little better in the future ;-(.

When I first looked at the pictures I thought the children where part of the sculpture, then I realized they were real, then I read your post. That must be one HUGE sculpture!!! I think I'd like to climb n it myself, ha ha!!

Look at how big Leo is getting!! He makes a darling little lion.

I hope you have a fun halloween.

xoxo Cori

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Cute picture of your grandson, Pat... He is just precious.

The Alice in Wonderland sculpture is amazing. That is so neat for kids to see. Thanks for sharing.

Happy Halloween.
Hugs,
Betsy

My name is Riet said...

That sculpture is so beautiful and I love it when kids can play and climb it.Gorgeous. Love the little Lion grandson of yours. What a darling.
Happy Halloween

happyone said...

How cool is that!! Great that kids get to climb all over it.

Anonymous said...

Alice in Wonderland is such a fun place.

That's the cutest and happiest lion I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Paz

Judy said...

Wonderful sculptures...all of them. And a most precious, smiling little lion!

I'm home from vacation...just barely...and am reading some of my favorite blogs.

Claudia said...

Your grandson is adorable! I love the Alice in Wonderland sculpture! It really is delightful! Happy Pink Saturday and Happy Halloween!

GwendolynKay said...

Love the Alice in wonderland statues! I can see why kids would love to play on them. Your grandson makes a great lion. roar!
Happy Pink Saturday!
Gwen

jeanne said...

Hello Pat, the Alice in Wonderland sculpture is awesome. I love the photos showing the children playing on the statues. Central Park is an wonderful place for all ages to have fun.

Pat, your little grandson is adorable in his lion costume. I can tell he is the star attraction in your family. It isn't any wonder, he is soooo cute. Aren't we lucky to have grands to love? I am visiting four of mine as I write this comment. I adore them. In fact I will be posting them in their costumes next week.

You are right about us traveling a lot this year. We do not have any of our grands nearby. We run the roads to visit them as much as we can. In the fall we come to FL for the home gator games, as we have season tickets. It also gives us a chance to visit our children and our grands. The Gators are unbeaten so far this year. Very exciting as last year they were the Nat'l champs and it is possible they will be again. My husband and
our children graduated from U of F. As did their spouses. I am surrounded by gators. HA!

Have a great day tomorrow.

Hugs xoxo, Jeanne

Merisi said...

So heartwarming to see that there is a work of art dedicated to actually be touched and used by children!

Thank you for the memories!
I scrolled through previous posts of yours and had to write my son an email with tips of yours. He's on his way to NY as I write!

Sue said...

Hi Pat, What a fun sculpture- there is so much detail in it. Gee, I don't think I ever knew Alice's cat's name, either.
Leo the Lion is a doll baby! That picture is precious.
hugs, Sue

CatHerder said...

Great pics as usual....i NEVER knew that statue existed..thats so neat!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Pat, I adore that statue, but what I adore more is that darling Leo in his little lion costume! What a cutie pie! Look at that smile!
And I didn't miss the play on his name with the lion costume, either. How clever!

Thanks for sharing. I had been wanting to see some Leo pics, so I'm glad you shared this one with us. He's grown SO much! Soon, he will be talking up a storm. Then he'll be breaking girls' hearts!
LOL!

We had a little tiny skeleton visit us last night whose hand was so tiny that when Mr. Magpie put the candy in it, he couldn't hold even two pieces at a time. LOL! They slipped out of his teeny, tiny hand. He was the only goblin we got, but even I who don't do scary have to admit he was so cute it wasn't even funny. I can remember wearing something similar and also remember a friend of mine in elementary school who was supposed to be the Gingerbread Boy wearing a skeleton costume instead. He was the gingerbread boy on a diet gone bad. ;-)

Love to you...

XO,

Sheila

supplies overflowing! said...

LEO!! How adorable!!! He is gorgeous! What a smile!

I was reading through a couple of your older and of course interesting and informative posts, and I just want to add-
Let's go Yankees!!

Beverly said...

Happy Pink Saturday and Happy Halloween, Pat.

First of all - Go Yankees! Two more, please.

That is some adorable Lion you have there. And, how appropriate that he be a lion.

I love Alice in Wonderland. Doesn't everyone. And, I love Whoopi, too.

Marina Capano said...

Hi How a u? what a fantastic Alice, I love it.
Happy Halloween
xoxo

Have you ever been in old sturbridge village? is wonderful place, yesterday I saw documental about this place.
Can you made post about it?

Jenny said...

Oh Pat, I adore this statue. It is one of my favorites! Love this post! You are so interesting!

Unknown said...

Happy Pink Saturday!!!
Happy Halloween!!!

Lora @ my blessed life said...

What a wonderful sculpture! My kiddos would love that. And they would be climbing all over it, too:)

Anonymous said...

HOw wonderful! Too bad children are the only one's allowed to climb on it LOL

Your grandson is a cutie patootie :-)

Mizpah,
Li

Lisa said...

Pat,

Here comes #27!! It may not be tonight, but it's there, just waiting. What a way to christen the new stadium! I'm SO excited!

That said, love your Halloween header, and your grandson is absolutely delicious! :)

Gracie said...

Little Leo is such a cutie! It seems to enjoy his costume so very much. Thanks for sharing.

Tracy said...

Oh, how sweet... Your grandson is the cutest lion ever! My goodness how he's grown... I could just kiss his apple cheeks! :o) The Alice sculpture is such a magic thing, I just love it--it is a special highlight in the park. Thanks sor this very happy post to start the week with, Pat. Happy Days ((BIG HUGS))

Anonymous said...

I have always regretted the day we visited NYC and not getting to go to Central Park. My grandson was born in Kingston when my son and DIL lived there. They named their son Dylan Thomas Jones. That is my son's favorite poet. Thomas is my son's first name too, but he wanted his son called Dylan so put it first. I am highlighting my followers for my birthday month. You are one of my early ones, so you will show up 11/03/09. Blessings
QMM

Claudia said...

I love the Alice in Wonderland statues and of course adore the book. Always stop by. Your little lion is so cute - hope hsi first Halloween was purr-fect. With a little roar)

Ebie said...

This is what we call art in public places and I am one great supporter! Love it!

Coralie Cederna Johnson said...

Your photos are so wonderful, capturing the magical feelings of Alice and all of her friends along with Halloween spirits! Great post! Thanks for visiting too! So pleased to meet you. Now back to your delightful blog to adventure forth. Thanks so much for sharing!

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Oh..my...LEO!!! He's purrrrrrrfect. ;-) And look how happy he is! Oh my...so, so cute.

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

I got so hung up on Leo...that I forgot to say that the Alice in Wonderland sculpture is one of my favorites. When I was little I must have seen it on the news or as a picture in the paper or something and I demanded that we go! :-) My father eventually schlepped me up there...and a good time was had by all (or at least by me!). I wish I had pictures.