When French’s Manhattan and Brooklyn Were Saved from Destruction

Joseph Kellard April 17, 2025

Last summer I visited Prospect Park in Brooklyn for the first time in decades, photographing its zoo’s animals and walking through neighboring areas, Grand Army Plaza and Park Slope. I also visited the Brooklyn Museum of Art to finally see a pair of statues flanking its entrance: Manhattan and Brooklyn, by my favorite American sculptor, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). Capturing these allegorical female figures had long been on my bucket list.

@ Merced River, Yosemite Valley_Albert Bierstadt (1866) copy.jpg

Art That Calls My Name at the Met

Joseph Kellard August 24, 2019

Some paintings and sculptures that caught my eye during a few strolls through the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year:

Aphrodite. Roman copy of Greek original (above). Nymph of Dampierre by Vasse (bottom left) and Reclining Naiad by Canova (bottom right). — *Aphrodite*. Roman copy of Greek original (above). Nymph of Dampierre by Vasse (bottom left) and *Reclining Naiad* by Canova (bottom right).

Nudes at Night

Joseph Kellard September 28, 2015

It had been a long time. More than a decade ago, I attended evening tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art guided by the ultra-enthusiastic art historian Lee Sandstead, who later hosted the Art Attack program on the Travel Channel. Of course, I’ve visited the museum many times since then, but not after dark.

The Continents by Daniel Chester French

Joseph Kellard May 13, 2014

While you likely never read about them in any geography texts, four continents are located on the southern tip of Manhattan island.