Pulitzer Fountain
Pulitzer Fountain is an ornamental fountain located in Grand Army Plaza, at the southeastern entrance to the Park and at the end of Fifth Avenue’s shopping corridor.
When newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer died in 1911, he bequeathed funds for the design and construction of a Beaux-Arts style fountain in his memory. The executors of Pulitzer’s estate invited five architectural firms to create proposals not only for the fountain but the whole southeastern entrance to the Park. The estate selected the design proposed by American architect Thomas Hastings and Austrian-American architectural sculptor Karl Bitter who created the two symmetrically arranged plazas that exist today with the fountain on the south side.
The Pulitzer Fountain has five basins in a stepped formation topped with the bronze figure of Pomona, the Roman goddess of abundance, sculpted by Karl Bitter. In her arm she holds a basket of harvested fruits. The water emerges from spouts at the base of the figure and cascades downs the basins. The fountain’s allegorical theme of abundance is completed by two large horns of plenty.
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