'Artificial constructions' and object lessons in a sacred landscape: The art and architecture of Central Park, 1858--1880

This dissertation examines the role of architecture and art in Central Park during its formative years, 1858-1880. Central Park, as the nation's first large urban park, was an important experiment which merged English picturesque landscape tradition with American ideals. The park, as first conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was to offer a respite from city living and an opportunity to commune privately with nature while absorbing its restorative qualities. This vision held that the park should be antithetical to the city itself, focusing not on the achievements of man, but rather showcasing nature and nature alone. Accordingly, the park's "artificial constructions" (a nineteenth-century terns used to describe architecture and art) were carefully designed drawing on materials, forms, and iconography deemed sympathetic to the naturalistic aesthetic.; This dissertation will show, however, that the park became a victim of its own success and this vision was fiercely contested. The belief that the park visitor needed more than what nature could offer resulted in buildings and sculptures becoming increasingly more visible and assertive forces in the landscape. Important to this shift were changing ideas about public education which led to the insertion of museum buildings and other didactic exhibits into the park. All of these "artificial constructions" indelibly changed the park's character but as importantly, changed the way in which the public experienced this space. What had been a private and spiritual encounter with nature evolved into one directed by the institutions and individuals who staked claim to the park with buildings and statuary. Nature as a spiritual force became supplanted by the belief that man had intellectual and physical control over his universe.; By examining this philosophical debate surrounding landscape design, architecture, and art within the framework of American intellectual history, this dissertation expands our understanding of landscape design and the ideology of mid-nineteenth-century aesthetics and science. Since Central Park is the acknowledged model for urban parks in the United States in the nineteenth century, this study will set the stage for a broader understanding of architecture and art in other parks, a topic which remains understudied.