West 86th Street Subway Art 6

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West 86th Street Subway Art #6
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the uptown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989; it was mounted on 2 July 2006).

Artist: Nitza Tufino.

Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].

I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway station of all, the American Museum of Natural History station at 81st and Central Park West (B & C trains) [AMNH archives].

I plan to continue photographing subway station artworks as long as you enjoy seeing them.

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This piece is interesting for several reasons. The original sculpture is "Memory" by Augustus Lukeman, which memorializes Ida and Isodor Straus. They died on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Isodor was the owner of Macy's. The sculpture is at the little park at 106th and Broadway. If you go there you'll notice this artwork is a mirror image of the real thing.

The model for the sculpture was a woman by the name of Audrey Munson. She was the model of choice for sculptors in NYC in the early 20th century. Her likeness can be seen in works all around town. She is also credited for being the first woman to completely disrobe in a movie.

thanks for the tip, joe. i will try to get to that park in the next day or two and photograph this sculpture!