Statue of Antonín Dvořák

The bronze statue you see depicts the acclaimed Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, who lived in a brownstone just across the street from this park between eighteen ninety-two and eighteen ninety-five. During his time in this neighborhood, he served as the director of the National Conservatory of Music and composed some of his most significant works, including the Symphony Number Nine, popularly known as the New World Symphony. He famously drew inspiration for his American compositions from the spirituals and folk music he encountered here in the United States. The statue itself has a history of displacement. It was created by the noted sculptor Ivan Meštrović, a student of Auguste Rodin, and donated to the New York Philharmonic in nineteen sixty-three. For decades, it remained largely unseen by the public, stored away until a local heritage association and the neighborhood community successfully advocated for its installation here in nineteen ninety-seven. Its placement in Stuyvesant Square Park serves as a lasting memorial to the composer, particularly following the controversial demolition of his former home in the early nineteen nineties.