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Accession #	66.85
Artist	Willard Leroy Metcalf
Title	Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park
Date	1911
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	35 15/16 x 35 15/16 in. (91.3 x 91.3 cm) Frame: 52 1/4 x 52 1/4 x 2 1/2 in. (132.7 x 132.7 x 6.4 cm)
Inscriptions	Inscribed on stretcher: "Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park / W.L. Metcalf -- April 1911"
Signed	Signed lower left: "W. L. Metcalf. 1911"
Credit Line	Frank L. Babbott Fund
Location	Visible Storage: Case 24, Screen I (Paintings)

Curatorial Remarks: Willard Leroy Metcalf painted this panoramic view of Central Park as he saw it from his apartment on Manhattan’s West Side. His vantage point high above the park promoted a softening of detail and atmosphere that was enhanced by his delicate brushwork.

Metcalf may have been inspired by the bird’s-eye city views of the French Impressionists, including Claude Monet, whom he had come to know personally during several extended summer stays in Giverny, France, during the mid-1880s.