Gertrude Stein

Sculptor: Jo Davidson
Dedicated: 1992; cast from an original of 1923
Medium and size: Bronze (2.5 feet), concrete pedestal (4.5 feet)
Location: Bryant Park, between 42 and 41st Streets, and Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Subway: B, D, F, V to 42nd Street -Bryant Park

[Due to copyright restrictions, a photo of Stein is not included here.]

Stein on Oakland

Stein immortalized her childhood home of Oakland, California, with the comment:

What was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there. -- Stein, Everybody's Autobiography (1937)

In a clever visual riposte, Oakland erected in its City Center a large abstract sculpture by Roslyn Mazzilli entitled, simply, There.

Stein, Picasso, and Man Ray

Man Ray took a photograph of Stein in 1926, while she was posing for this sculpture by Davidson. It offers a rare chance to study the the sitter’s actual appearance vs. the details the artist has chosen to include.

Stein by Picasso

Above: Stein recorded her friend Picasso's comment on her portrait (1905-6), which now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum: "Yes, he said, everybody says that she does not look like it but that does not make any difference, she will." (Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, 1933)

Stein’s Apartment

Stein's apartment

Above: If you’re a Woody Allen fan, this photograph should look eerily familiar. Kudos to the set designers of Midnight in Paris for doing a great job of replication.

Cross Reference

Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan has more on Davidson's reaction to Stein's verbal portrait of him, and the text of Stein's rant about the comma.