?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(NEW YORK CITY.) Photograph of the southeastern corner of Central Park under construction, with the accompanying lithograph. Unmounted albumen print, 8 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches; minor wear, mount remnants on verso, pencil inscriptions on recto and verso. [New York], [June 1858]
An early view of the southeastern corner of Central Park, then very much a work in progress, with the landscaping just beginning. This view was shot within the present boundaries of the park, just west of 5th Avenue and 64th Street, near the entrance to the Central Park Zoo. We are looking south toward downtown and what would become Grand Army Plaza along 5th Avenue, which was yet to be paved. The large building to the center-right is the newly constructed St. Luke's Hospital on 54th Street, three blocks south of the park (relocated in 1896, and now the site of the Museum of Modern Art). In the far background to the right can be seen Crystal Palace, the massive exhibition hall constructed in 1853 at the site of today's Bryant Park. It burned in October 1858. A faint pencil note above the horizon reads "5th Ave. about 45-50," describing the blocks visible in the far distance. A later pencil caption on verso reads "5th or 6th Ave, looking south." The photograph appears to be otherwise unknown, but it was lithographed for the 1859 Valentine's Guide.
The photograph is offered with the lithograph, titled "View in Central Park, Southward from the Arsenal, 5th Avenue & 64th St., June 1858," 7 x 15 inches. The lithograph is generally seen folded as issued in Valentine's Guide. Its presence in its unfolded state, in conjunction with its original source photograph, suggests that this one may have ultimately come from the publisher's files. Also included is another related lithograph from Valentine's Manual, "View in Central Park, Promenade, June 1858," 7 1/4 x 14 inches--also unfolded. Both were lithographed by George Hayward.
