Group of Bears - New York City, NY - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

From the Smithsonian American Art Museum inventory: "Three polar bears standing on an ice floe. The center bear is standing up on his hind legs; the left bear is moving foward; the right bear is seated on it haunches. There is a branch of ivy spread across the front of the ice floe near the artist's signature. The sculpture is installed in the center of a six-stepped circular base."

The following information is posted on a sign near the bear sculpture, as well as on the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation website:

Group of Bears

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.

TITLE: Group of Bears ARTIST(S): Paul Manship DATE: Original 1932. Cast 1989. MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: gray granite. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS NY000142 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Located Central Park, Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground at 18th Street & 5th Avenue, New York, New York. DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The description in the inventory is accurate.

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