Central Park: An American Masterpiece - Reviews - Book Review

Contemporary Review, July, 2003

Central Park: An American Masterpiece. Sara Cedar Miller. Harry N. Abrams. [pounds sterling]30.00. 255 pages. ISBN 0-8109-3946-0. New York City's great park, which may be said to date from 1853, is, the author claims, 'the most important work of American art of the nineteenth century'. It is, she claims, 'the living embodiment of nineteenth-century American landscape paintings, particularly those of the Hudson River, or New York, School'.

Miss Miller, who has worked as the photographer for the Central Park Conservancy since 1984 and has been the Park's official historian since 1989, has an intimate knowledge not just of the Park's history but of its every nook and cranny. She uses her knowledge to describe the beginning of the Park and the work of its creators, Frederick Law Olmsted, Clavert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. The 316 illustrations, of which 200 are in full colour, add greatly to the reader's understanding (and enjoyment) as do the maps and plans. She also describes how the Park is maintained and how art has not been used to duplicate nature but to create a Romantic view of nature. This book is a splendid achievement and a credit both to the writer-photographer and to the publisher. (S.T.B.)