Since its opening in 1939, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden has served as a respite from the frenzy of Midtown Manhattan. It was established as an outdoor gallery for changing installations that unite nature, architecture, and art. In 1953 the Sculpture Garden was redesigned as a “roofless room” with four distinct, marble-paved areas for displaying sculpture alongside shallow pools, trees, and seasonal plants. Over the years, the Sculpture Garden has found other uses, including as a popular performance venue.

The current installation brings together a variety of works made across the 20th and 21st centuries by artists who abstract figures and forms. Making its debut in the Sculpture Garden is Simone Leigh’s Sentinel (2022), a monumental figure standing over 16 feet tall. It joins other works from the Museum’s collection, including Lynda Benglis’s Double Fountain, Mother and Child (2007), situated in one of the garden’s two pools, as well as imagined figures such as Joan Miró’s Moonbird (1966) and Wangechi Mutu’s MamaRay (2020).