Straus Memorial
Artist: Lukeman, Augustus, 1871-1935, sculptor
With: Tracy, Evarts, 1868-1929, architect, Pilat, Carl, landscape architect, Jno. Williams, Inc., founder
Status: In Situ
Title: Straus Memorial
Dates: 1913-14. Dedicated April 15, 1915
Medium: Sculpture: bronze; Fountain and exedra, granite.
Dimensions: Sculpture: approx. 3 x 7 x 2 ft.; Fountain and exedra: approx. 4 x 15 x 3 ft.
Inscription: Augustus Lukeman Sculptor 191[?] (On base:) JNO Williams Inc/Founders NY (On back of exedra bench:) IN MEMORY OF ISIDOR AND IDA STRAUS/WHO WERE LOST AT SEA IN THE TITANIC DISASTER APRIL 15 1912/LOVELY AND PLEASANT WERE THEY IN THEIR LIVES AND IN/THEIR DEATH THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED/”SAMUEL” 23/ERECTED/BY VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MANY FELLOW-CITIZENS/AND ACCEPTED FOR THE/CITY OF NEW YORK BY/MAYOR/JOHN PURROY MITCHEL/AND/CABOT WARD/COMMISSIONER OF PARKS AD MCMXV signed Founder’s mark appears. On the backside of the monument: Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives/ And in their death they were not dividided [from Samuel 1:23].
Description: A classically draped figure, representing Memory, rests her head on her hands and gazes into a pool which stretches out before her. The figure is placed in the center of an exedra which has two steps leading into the pool below. Lion heads originally spilled water into the fountain pool.
Owner: City of New York, Department of Parks and Recreation, New York, New York.
Located West 106th Street, between Broadway & West End Avenuet, New York, New York.
Remarks: Memorial to New York philanthropists Isidor and Ida Straus who died on the RMS Titanic. Straus and his two brothers took over the ownership of H. R. Macy & Co. in 1896 and developed it into the world’s largest department store. Straus also served briefly in Congress. Ida Straus made the decision to remain on board with her husband rather than save herself by boarding the lifeboats. The memorial which cost twenty thousand dollars was funded in part by the artist and a public subscription. Evarts Tracy designed the fountain and exedra. In 1912, the City named this park after the Strauses, who had lived in a frame house at 27-47 Broadway, near 105th Street. The work consists of a granite curved exedra, a central bronze reclining female figure of Memory (for which the celebrated model Audrey Munson posed), and a reflecting pool. The monument was dedicated three years to the day after the Titanic sank. By 2007 the memorial and the surrounding area had fallen into disrepair. The lily pond that extended outward from the base of the sculpture and fountain was filled in, creating a flower bed that was easier to maintain. The Friends of Straus Park is a volunteer organization that helps maintain Straus Park.
References:
Gayle, Margot & Michele Cohen, “Guide to Manhattan’s Outdoor Sculpture,” New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, p. 287.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NY0121, 1989.
Durante, Dianne L., Outdoor Monument of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, New York: New York University Press, 2007, 215-218.
bstract sculpture was the gift of David Kluger, the father of the author.
References: Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York, New York survey, 1993.
Harrison, Marina and Lucy D. Rosenfeld, Artwalks in New York, New York: New York University Press, 2004, p. 86