3. Gertrude Stein Statue

Gertrude Stein statue

The Gertrude Stein statue is one of five sculptures in Bryant Park. The statue was installed in 1992 and is actually based on a model made by the sculptor, Jo Davidson, in Paris in 1923. The statue’s close proximity to the New York Public Library is reflective of Gertrude Stein’s great literary contributions as an American author and patron of the arts. The sculpture was a gift of Dr. Maury Leibowitz, vice-chairman and president of Knoedler-Modarco Galleries.

Gertrude Stein was a highly esteemed American writer and she is known for incorporating Cubism into her writings. Tender Buttons is one of her well-known works which implements fragmentation and abstraction to an extreme. Stein’s home in Paris doubled as a salon in which she influenced leading artists and writers during the Cubist movement such as Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso.