Central Park (Winter)
Lithographer Julius Bien American
After John Bachmann American, Swiss
Publisher Edmund Foerster & Co. American
Not on view
We here look down on a moonlit snow-covered scene with the Lake's southwest short immediately below and the Gothic Bridge at right. Near the print's right edge at center, tall banners mark the boat landing at Bethesda Terrace. The foreground bank's height has been exaggerated and the position of many elements throughout the view manipulated. Figures riding in sleighs in the foreground trace a path that coincides to todays West Drive near 72nd Street. The frozen Lake supports numerous skaters and is lit by a huge lamp post that emits horizontal beams. At right, a brightly-lit boathouse attracts a crowds (today's Loeb boathouse occupies a different site, to the east beyond the Bethesda Terrace). The upper part of the park is dominated by huge walled water tanks which were part of the city's water distribution system. The upper two now form the Reservoir; the most southerly was later replaced by the Great Lawn. The Hudson River appears in the distance at left, beneath a full moon, with the East River at upper right.
