The relationship between the United States and France was close since America’s infancy. French statesman and military commander Marquis de Lafayette traveled to the colonies to help train the revolutionary army, prompting General George Washington to appoint him Major General in 1777.
Lafayette was back in 1780, joining in battle to help defeat Lord Charles Cornwallis in 1781. His relationship with Washington went beyond military comrades and they became close friends who shared mutual respect.
When Lafayette returned to the United States as a member of the French Chamber of Deputies in 1824, Congress showed its esteem and appreciation by presenting him with a large estate and $200,000.
France became embroiled in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71. The United States was still recovering from the Civil War and was unable to provide military aid to its ally. New York City did respond with aid for Paris, however, at the time of that city’s greatest need.
In response, the Cercle Francais de I’Harmonie, or French Fellowship Society, offered a gift to New York City in 1873: a bronze statue of Marquis de Lafayette. Sculptor Fredric-Auguste Bartholdi was selected to execute the figure. His name would become much more an American household word a decade later when he created a second French gift, the Statue of Liberty.
The statue arrived in New York on July 14, 1875, Bastille Day. Dedication would not take place for another year–partly because (like the Statue of Liberty) the gift came without a base. French-born New Yorkers poured in their donations to fund the granite pedestal, designed by H. W. DeStuckle.
LAFAYETTE STANDS PROUDLY IN UNION SQUARE PARK, NEW YORK
In reporting on the Lafayette statue, Schribner’s Monthly provided the likeness of Bartholdi in June 1877 (copyright expired)
The statue was originally intended for Central Park; but the location was changed to Union Square. Reportedly French-born citizens complained that the Park Commissioners were taking too long to pick a location. The dedication took place on Lafayette’s 119th birthday, September 6, 1876. And it was no small affair,
A massive parade of military units, fire department engines, French societies, bands and dignitaries marched from Fifth Avenue and 25th Street to 4th Street, then to Broadway and back up to Union Square. The platform near the American flag-draped statue was decorated with the French tricolor and the stars and stripes. Thousands of New Yorkers crammed the Square and the streets.
A French magazine published an etching of the ceremonies in 1876. To the right, in the intersection of what is now Park Avenue South and 14th Street, is the statue of George Washington. (copyright expired)
The following day The New York Times reported “Yesterday saw something of the amenities of two great republics. In the presence of an applauding multitude, the Lafayette statue in Union square was unveiled and presented, on behalf of the French Republic, to the commercial capital of a land bound to its old friend by the close kinship of sympathy and principle.”
After several speeches the statue was formally presented to the city by French consul-general Edmond Breuil, and unveiled by Bartholdi himself. The symbolism of the monument’s location, facing the equestrian statue of George Washington, did not go unrecognized. Speaker Frederic R. Coudert said in part:
If we could say to Lafayette, “Where do you wish your image to rest for ages, in order that our descendants may look upon it and love you?” would he not have chosen just the spot we have, and have said: “I wish to be near the man who called me son, and whom I loved as a father”?
The granite base was inscribed “In Remembrance Of Sympathy In Time Of Trial.” The editor of The New York Times pointed out that those shared trials reached further back than the recent war. “The legend refers to 1870-1, but…the tale is something like a century old, and trials have grown into triumphs since then, but the past has kindly, prompting ghosts that will not let the present become forgotten to its obligations.”
Bartholdi modeled his larger-than-life bronze figure in the act of taking a step forward. Scribner’s Monthly described it as if the sculptor had known that it would be facing the Washington statue. “Hence he has made him in the act of taking a step in the direction of the great general and sweeping toward him with his left hand a mute offer of his service. His right presses a sword to his breast with a gesture of devotion and as if making a vow.”
Lafayette stood on the bow of a ship, with waves breaking on either side. The critic of Scribner’s Monthly explained that it “commemorates his adventurous trip over the Atlantic.”
In early cabinet card photograph, sold to tourists, depicts men resting on benches near the statue. A sign warns pet owners to keep them on leashes: “No Dogs Allowed At Large.”
The statue was the focal point of annual celebrations of Memorial Day and what was known as Lafayette Day, September 6, Lafayette’s birthday. On those occasions the monument would be decorated with bunting and flowers. On May 30, 1900, for instance, the New-York Tribune reported on the Memorial Day ceremonies:
“A laurel wreath tied with violet ribbon, which will hold in place a huge bunch of violets, will be placed to-day by the Daughters of Lafayette Post on the Union Square statue of the hero whose name the organization bears. The post makes the decoration of the statue its especial care.”
September 6 took on even more meaning when the Battle of the Marne was fought on that day in 1914. The four-day skirmish resulted in the Allies turning back the German advance on Paris. Afterward, the Lafayette statue was the center of what was now called Lafayette-Marne Day.
The War Commission decorated the area around the statue in preparation for Memorial Day ceremonies in 1917. from the collection of the New York Public Library
The ceremonies were especially upbeat in 1918, with victory achieved. The Sun reported on September 6 that year “New York will celebrate Lafayette-Marne day to-day. The fraternal bonds joining the United States and France which have been strengthened by the war will be more finely tempered by the exercises arranged for this, the 161st anniversary of the birth of Lafayette and the fourth anniversary of the battle of the Marne.”
The article noted “French and American bluejackets and a detachment of soldiers from Governors Island will give the meeting a military touch. The Sons of the Revolution will accompany the color guard of that organization, carrying the flags of the days and battles in which the great French patriot participated when this country was fighting for her freedom.”
Assembled military units and civilians at the Lafayette-Marne Day ceremonies in September, 1918. The Sun (copyright expired)
A year earlier Robert Shackelton had published his The Book of New York, which guided tourists through the metropolis. His description of the Lafayette statue foreshadowed what was to come. He wrote that Lafayette bent forward towards Washington “as if to hasten to the great leader whom he so worshiped; as if, indeed, actually in the act of motion toward his chief.”
But then, with amazing prescience, he added “At least it is so as I write, though in this city of change, Lafayette may be made to face in some other direction, or Washington may be moved away, if it happens to be some commissioners’ whim or if it should be demanded by some matter of subway construction, in this burrow of Manhattan.”
The celebration of Lafayette-Marne Day continued at least through the 1920s. But in 1928, just as Schackelton had predicted, the entire park was excavated to create the subway concourse below ground. The statues in and around the park were removed and stored to await the reborn square.
On May 4, 1930 landscape architect J. V. Burgevin, working with the Parks Commission, unveiled the new layout. The Lincoln and Washington statues, which had sat on traffic islands on either side of the south end, would now be aligned in a straight line–Washington anchoring the center south end of the park, and Lincoln at the far north. On the western perimeter the James Fountain would be juxtaposed with the Lafayette statue, which would now face east.
Burgevin’s 1930 Plan placed Lafayette facing Park Avenue South, with Washington far to the south.
The result was that Lafayette’s outstretched hand, once appearing to offer aid and friendship to General Washington, now appeared to be asking for a loan from the Union Square Savings Bank.
By the 1970s Union Square and its immediate neighborhood had greatly deteriorated. The Square was the haunt of drug dealers and addicts, the lawns and shrubbery were overgrown, and its monuments were neglected.
Finally an $8 million restoration and revamping of the park was initiated in the early 1980s. In 1991 the Lafayette monument was conserved by the Adopt-A-Monument Program, a joint effort of the New York City Art Commission and the Municipal Art Society.
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Biography Loft with his wife c. 1922 He was born in New York City on February 6, 1865 to English immigrant William Loft (1828-1919),[2] 1860 founder of Loft, Inc. candymakers. Loft attended the public schools. He gained considerable wealth in the candy manufacturing business and expanded into retailing, banking, and real estate.
His first wife Elizabeth M. Loft died in 1910.[3] Loft remarried in 1911 to Julia McMahon whom he met when she was a salesclerk working at his store at 54 Barclay Street in New York. The couple made their home in Baldwin, New York on Long Island. On May 12, 1921, Julia Loft was appointed an honorary Deputy Police Commissioner for the City of New York and announced she would be active in her position and would fulfill her duties on a full-time basis.
A member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, Loft was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the 1906 death of Timothy D. Sullivan. He was reelected in 1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress and served from November 4, 1913, to March 3, 1917. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1916.
In 1923, the City of New York honored him by naming one of its Staten Island Ferry boats the George W. Loft.
He formed George W. Loft Markets Inc. as a retail store operator and George W. Loft Realty Company to handle all real estate transactions, primarily for leasing retail space. In 1938 Loft sub-divided forty acres of his estate at Baldwin, Long Island, erecting twelve luxury homes.
In 1927 George Loft founded the Emerald National Bank & Trust Co. in a building he owned at Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street in Manhattan.[5][6] In 1929 he founded the South Shore Trust Co. in Rockville Centre, New York, and served as president until his death. Following his death, Frank W. Breitbach was elected to succeed George W. Loft as president of the South Shore Trust Company.
THE Q-102 BUS TOOK YOU TO WORK AT CANDY FACTORY
THE MYSTERIOUS YEARS IN THE 80’S WHEN THE BUILDING WAS A BOAT FACTORY FOR REV. MOON. I ONCE SPOTTED BOATS LEAVING THE BUILDING. THE FISHING FLEET BUSINESS FAILED AND THE BOATS ABANDONED AT AN ESTATE CHURCH OWNED.
THE BUILDING LATER WAS CONVERTED TO MOISHES MOVING AND STORAGE.
AFTER LOFT VACATE THE BUILDING REV. SUN YOUNG MOON MANUFACTURED FISHING BOATS IN THE BUILDING
MOON CHURCH TO MOVE BOATS FROM ITS ESTATE IN TARRYTOWN The village of Tarrytown has ordered the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church to remove a fleet of fishing boats from the grounds of the church’s estate here by next week, and the church has agreed to do so, village officials said today. As many as 98 of the sport-fishing boats had been stored on the spacious church property, known as the Belvedere Estate, before village officials discovered them in June and notified the church that storing the boats was a violation of local zoning laws. Church spokesmen said the boats would be used in a new spiritual-training program for members. Thirty of the boats were removed from the estate property in June, village officials said today. That would mean 68 are still here. The church has refused to permit outsiders to inspect the boats, hidden within the property.
THIS IS NEW-STAND THAT IS AT 28TH STREET AND PARK AVENUE SOUTH. IT WAS SITTING IN A RESTAURANT AND WATCHING THE OWNER STOCK HIS WATER SUPPLY. THE STAINLESS STEEL KIOSK IS SPARKLING CLEAN WITH A REFRIGERATOR AND THE DISPLAY IS AN ARTWORK. THE MERCHANT IS SO PROUD AND METICULOUSLY DISPLAYS HIS WARES.
EDITORIAL
THIS IS THE VENDOR THAT RIOC HAS PERMITTED FRONT AND CENTER AT THE TRAM. TO SAY THE LEAST THIS CART IS AN EYESORE AND A POOR WELCOME TO THOSE EXITING THE TRAM. THERE ARE SO MANY VENDORS WHO ARE PROUD OF THEIR CARTS AND THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff Sources
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
BOSTON PUBLIC LIRARY
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In the last quarter of the 19th century, architects filled the rapidly developing Upper West Side with delightfully fanciful structures. Distinctly unlike any other part of the city, the streets in this section became a visual banquet of with turrets and towers, gargoyles and stained glass. French townhouses sat side-by-side with medieval manors. Here more than anywhere else in the city the architects exercised the freedom to experiment and test the latest styles. In 1889 a three-story beauty was completed at No. 233 West 100th Street, just steps from The Boulevard (later renamed Broadway). A city take on a suburban Queen Anne house, it boasted the capricious details that made the style so popular among Victorian homeowners—a bowed bay that morphed into a turret, half-moon windows filled with stained glass, creative brickwork, and decorative terra cotta panels. A brownstone stoop led to the parlor floor above the English basement. All that was missing from this urban version was a wrap-around porch with intricate woodwork. Two years after the house was completed, Clara Barton’s American National Red Cross Association founded the New-York Red Cross Hospital Association. According to President Mrs. Charles H. Raymond, “The work of the hospital is to train nurses for indoor and outdoor work, no regular price being asked.” An appeal for contributions for a hospital and training facility building went out and in 1894 enough money had been raised. That year, in April, The New York Times reported on the auction sale of the 25-foot wide house at No. 233 West 100th Street; the new Hospital and Training School for the Red Cross Sisters.
In 1896 the Annual Report of the State Board of Charities noted the extended work being done in the building. Along with the training of nurses, it listed as its objects “to treat disease on most scientifically based methods, in particular without alcoholic stimulants, and to cultivate anything in medicine or surgery which may be of public interest or advantage.” When the doors to the hospital first opened, Bettina Hofker was its sister-in-chief. Among the original staff was Dr. A. Monae Lesser, the surgeon-in-chief. Lesser was noted as “an advocate of surgery and the practice of medicine without the use of alcohol, and he has contributed articles to medical journals on these subjects,” said The Sun on August 8, 1897. The close working relationship between Sister Hofker and Dr. Lesser fostered a more personal attachment and on August 6, 1897 the pair was married in the hospital by Rev. Dr. McNichol of the Fourth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those witnessing the ceremony were Clara Barton, and Stephen Barton and his wife. The New York Times noted that “The wedding ceremony was very simple and followed a meeting of the Board of Trustees. The President of the board, William T. Wardwell, gave away the bride, into whose purse the bridgegroom, following an old Manx custom, dropped a coin after the ceremony.” (William Wardwell was not only President of the Board, but Treasurer of the Standard Oil Company.) The newlyweds would soon take a trip to Cuba—but it was no honeymoon. Rumblings of war with Spain resulted in a build-up of troops in Cuba. In February 1898 Clara Barton sent Lesser and his wife there to vaccinate nurses and to prepare them “to be ready to start for the front on a moment’s notice.” The New York Times reported on March 6 “Should war be declared against Spain, it will find the nurses and graduates of the New York Red Cross Hospital and Training School at 233 West One Hundredth Street, prepared to start for the front, for they have been holding themselves in readiness for the last two weeks in anticipation of a hurry call for their services in Cuba.” Henry M. Flagler, who had been busy developing the coastal communities of Florida, gave land and $5,000 to the Red Cross to build a hospital in Miami, just north of his Royal Palm Hotel. Twenty-five nurses from New York were sent to Florida in July to staff the new hospital. Ironically, it was not battle wounds that the nurses were being primarily prepared to treat. On May 22, 1898 18 Cuban physicians and 12 American doctors held at meeting at the hospital on West 100th Street concerning a greater danger: yellow fever and malaria. Dr. Emiliano Nunez, former director of Our Mother of Mercy Hospital in Havana, told those present that “at the present time fully 75 per cent of all soldiers from foreign countries coming to Cuba were likely to be attacked by epidemic diseases.” The Sun quoted Dr. Juan D. Sollossa, in charge of the Red Cross in Cuba, as saying “As it is now of each 100 soldiers that go to Cuba twenty-five die from disease alone. But this percentage could be cut down materially if proper hygienic conditions were established, as could be easily done.” The Surgeon General requested that the Red Cross supply “immune nurses.” In response an announcement was placed in the morning newspapers on July 19 that “applicants wishing to become nurses should be at the Red Cross Hospital” that morning. Volunteers poured in from every walk of life. Miss Dilworth told The Sun “For the most part the women who apply are attractive, able-looking women and full of earnestness…One has only to look at our volunteer corps, as they sit here listening to lectures about the proposed work, to see that they are a band of typical American women, women who are well and appropriately dressed and thoroughly accustomed to the niceties of life.” One volunteer in particular was accustomed to the niceties of life. The Daily Oklahoma State Capital reported that “Miss Margaret Chanler, great-great granddaughter of the original John Jacob Astor, has renounced society to act as assistant nurse in a Red Cross hospital ward, a sublime act of renunciation.” The newspaper said “The suffering and dying to whom she will minister in Cuba will never know that one of the richest and bluest blooded New York heiresses is their attendant, for Miss Chanler desires to hide her identity when she dons the garb of the great order of mercy and the Red Cross sisters will respect her wishes.” Margaret Chanler attended the classes at No. 233 West 100th Street and witnessed surgeries. Others were not so resilient as the wealthy great-granddaughter of William B. Astor. During one operation “One of the society women fainted. Several were forced to leave the room. It was Miss Chanler alone who stood her ground and established herself in a distinctive niche for the admiration of the experienced nurses who witnesses her heroism.” Another socialite who donned the nurse’s uniform was Mrs. Thomas “a wealthy woman, who has signified her intention of going where she is told to go and doing what she is told to do,” said The Sun on April 28. Sister Bettina told the newspaper “I would like it distinctly understood that we shall accept no more applications for war service unless the volunteer is willing to go where she is ordered, whether for relief work or field service. A Red Cross nurse must be just as willing to obey orders without question, as a soldier.” The patriotic fever to help in the war effort crossed gender lines and New Yorkers were surprised when The Sun reported on May 3 that “About fifteen men, in response to a wish recently expressed by Dr. Lesser, applied to join the Red Cross as volunteers to go to Cuba.” The men’s entrance into the heretofore female-only field was gladly accepted. That afternoon Dr. Lesser “gave them many practical and valuable points that will be of great use to them in caring for themselves as well as the soldiers, if they are ordered to the field.” By the beginning of October 1898 all the nurses who had been sent to Cuba were back at No. 233 West 100th Street. But they would not be here for long. On October 2 The Sun reported that “The Red Cross Hospital at 233 West 100th street is removing to 259 West Ninety-third street, where there are larger accommodations. There will be thirty-five beds, which will be ready by Saturday.” The house-turned-hospital was sold at auction in May 1899. In February 1900 the title was transferred to the Nameoki Club—the Tammany Club of the 21st District. It was traditional for Tammany organizations to take Native American names and the Nameoki Club would offer a double-dose. It was casually known as the “little Wigwam.” The Nameoki Club was led by the powerful Matthew “Matt” Donohue. A plumber, he rose quickly in the ranks of Tammany Hall, becoming the youngest man to sit on the executive committee at the age of 28. By now the plumber had risen to the position of Superintendent of Sewers. Donohue’s firm hold on the district was aided by the wealthy men who were listed on the club’s membership roles. One was candy-manufacturer George William Loft. Broadcast Weekly said on February 11, 1904, “There is no more regular attendant at the Nameoki Club than George W. Loft, whose luscious candies have melted in the mouth of many a Democratic and Republican woman…He is one of the men who have done most to enable Leader Donohue to build up the big Democratic following in the district.” Loft had a lot of irons in the fire. Having amassed a considerable fortune in the confectionary business, he diversified into real estate, banking and retailing. He was a well-known breeder of thoroughbred racehorses and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives. The same year that Broadcast Weekly wrote about Loft, the Nameoki Club found a need to expand its headquarters. On January 5 the New-York Tribune reported that the club “is to be enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $5,000. The architect is Thomas W. Lamb.” Lamb was best known for his designing of theaters and it is possible that it was at this time that the basement and first floor levels were extended to the property line with a brownstone addition, and the entrance lowered to sidewalk level.
The election year of 1906 was marked by an especially bitter race between Donohue and Ross Williams. As the Nameoki Club prepared for its summer picnic on September 10, The Evening World predicted that the Williams followers would try to derail the festivities. “A report gained currency through the district that followers of Ross Williams, Mr. Donohue’s rival for the leadership, would attend the picnic with a couple of vans loaded with empty-bottles, pig-iron and lemons. Mr. Williams indignantly denied that any of his men would attend the Donohue outing so equipped.” The Evening World also predicted that the Nameoki Club members would come home with hangovers. “The leader of the band bears the suggestive name of Prof. R. E. Sause. Tomorrow morning a lot of the merry-makers are likely to be under the care of old Prof. R-E-Morse.” As it turned out, Donohue lost the election by eight votes after what The New York Times called “a long and tiring battle.” The Club remained in the house until January 1913. The building was purchased by Ennis & Sinnott, who quickly sold it within the month to Thomas Jefferson O’Rourke. The Sun noted that O’Rourke “will remodel the building for business purposes.” O’Rourke simultaneously purchased No. 232 West 101st Street which abutted the property to the rear. By August the renovations were completed and half of the building–the entire third floor and part of the second–were leased to A. W. Brown.
Female faces stare out from the three intricate terra cotta panels in the curved bay.
By the second half of the 20th century there were just two businesses in the building, which had been allowed to substantially degrade. Then in 1998 new owners John D. and Rosemary Kuhns completed a full renovation and restoration, resulting in a single family home. The Kuhns replaced the slate-covered turret cap with a handsome copper bell-shaped dome. Above it an eagle weather vane, while perhaps not architecturally appropriate, is an interesting curiosity. The 1904 interiors, designed by Thomas Lamb, have been lost.
While few interior details survive, the remarkable Queen Anne house endures along with its equally remarkable past.
The William and Anita Newman Library is the main library for the students and faculty of Baruch College, a constituent college of the City University of New York. It is located within the Information and Technology Building (also known as the Newman Library and Technology Center),[3] at 151 East 25th Street in Rose Hill, Manhattan, New York City.
The building was originally known as the Lexington Building or the 25th Street Power House. It was erected in 1895 as the main powerhouse for the Lexington Avenue cable car line, and was later used as an electrical substation when the line began operating streetcars.[2] The upper floors were used as office and manufacturing space. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the building was purchased by Baruch College as part of its new campus and renovated for library and academic use, opening in 1994.
I took some graduate classes in Baruch many years ago when the primary building was on 23rd and Lex, this was the annex and 25th street was a regular city street. When I went, Baruch was desperate for space and they had to rent space in nearby office buildings to hold graduate classes….Ed Litcher
JAY JACOBSON, ANDY SPARBERG, GLORIA HERMAN, LAURA HUSSEY, NINA LUBLIN
ALL GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
DAYTONIAN IN MANHATTAN
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Josephine Joy, Irish Cottage, ca. 1935-1938, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Newark Museum, 1966.31.8
This quaint Irish cottage was probably inspired by romantic illustrations of Ireland that appeared in American travel brochures and books. The lady playing a harp, however, is based on the symbol of the Society of United Irishmen, an organization formed in 1791 to rebel against British control. Their badge combined a harp (Ireland’s national icon), with the motto: “It is new strung and shall be heard.”
Josephine Hiett Joy was born near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 1869 and soon thereafter her family moved to Peoria, Illinois. After an early marriage that ended in divorce, she went to Chicago and subsequently married Frank Joy. She became interested in painting after they moved to San Diego. A prolific worker, she became a WPA artist in the late 1930s, which led to her first solo exhibition at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City in 1943. Joy died in Peoria in 1948.
Josephine Joy was born Sally Hiett, but changed her name when she was sixteen years old. As a young woman, she lived in Chicago and Denver before settling in San Diego, California, with her husband. It was there that she began to paint, creating images of flowers and landscapes, and she particularly enjoyed sketching animals at the San Diego Zoo. During the Great Depression, Joy worked with the California Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which helped bring national attention to her work. In the spring of 1943, she held her first one-woman show at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York, which received considerable praise from critics.
Josephine Joy, Magnolia Blossoms, ca. 1935-1941, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.44
Josephine Joy grew up on an Illinois farm, where she loved to sketch birds, trees, and flowers. Circumstances prevented her from following her artistic calling until 1927, after her children were grown and her husband had died. Joy lived in California then, and the WPA’s California Art Project afforded her the opportunity to work gainfully as an artist. In the 1930s, “non-academic” painters were increasingly celebrated alongside their professional peers. By the early 1940s, Joy was a nationally acclaimed painter whose work had been featured in a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Josephine Joy, San Diego Mission, ca. 1935-1939, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.45
Josephine Joy’s paintings combine direct observation and imaginative design. This is especially evident in this painting of the Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of California’s twenty-one missions. Founded in 1769, the building underwent renovations in 1931. Certain features of San Diego Mission are drawn from the renovation, while others appear much older. The newly built bell tower contrasts with the cracked and exposed brick and the aged building to the right. Joy painted San Diego Mission while working with the WPA’s Southern California Art Project in Los Angeles from 1936 to 1939.
“I love to paint in the open, sitting in some beautiful garden, hillside or remote place or in Balboa Park [in San Diego], where I had sketched many pictures … I paint from nature but occasionally I find myself designing.” The artist, quoted in Cat and a Ball on a Waterfall: 200 Years of California Folk Painting and Sculpture, 1986
Josephine Joy, Trysting at Evening, ca. 1935-1939, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.39
This painting may have been inspired by a sketch Josephine Joy made on one of her trips to the San Diego Zoo. The bench and railing in the image imply that this scene is a part of some man-made environment. The two peacocks in the foreground spread their trains to the fullest, displaying the bright colors of their plumage, and lift their chins in an attempt to attract a mate. The three birds perched on the railing and in the tree, however, ignore this elaborate show. In nature, the male peacocks are more brightly colored than female peahens, but here the artist shows them all to be more similarly colored.
Josephine Joy, Waterbirds Nesting, ca. 1935-1939, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.42
Josephine Joy, Moufflon–Bobtailed Sheep, ca. 1935-1939, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.40
Josephine Joy, Prisoner’s Plea, ca. 1935-1937, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.38
Josephine Joy, CCC Camp Balboa Park, ca. 1933-1937, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.41
The Starrett–Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues and between 26th and 27th Streets in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, is a full-block freight terminal, warehouse and office building. It was built in 1930–31 as a joint venture of the Starrett Corporation and the Lehigh Valley Railroad on a lot where the railroad had its previous freight terminal, and was designed by the firm of (Russell G.) Cory & (Walter M.) Cory, with Yasuo Matsui the associate architect and the firm of Purdy & Henderson the consulting, structural engineers. When William A. Starrett died in 1932, the Lehigh Valley Railroad bought the building outright, but by 1933 it was a losing proposition, with a net loss that year of $300,000. The Starrett–Lehigh Building was named a New York City landmark in 1986,[1] and is part of the West Chelsea Historic District, designated in 2008
NINA LUBLIN, ROBIN LYNN, ARON EISENPREISS, ANDY SPARBERG, ED LITCHER (WHO SENT THE HISTORY),
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Deborah Dorff Roosevelt Island Historical Society
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
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The Department of Docks photograph collection includes numerous large-format glass-plate negatives that depict the intense commercial activity along both the East and North (Hudson) River waterfronts. West Street, ca. 1922. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
New York City is an archipelago of islands. Of the five Boroughs, only the Bronx is connected by land to the continental United States. When temperatures rise many New Yorkers naturally gravitate to the 520 miles of shoreline along the rivers, bays and ocean that surround the city. Or would, if they could.
In recent years, sections of the waterfront have been reclaimed for housing and recreation; Brooklyn Bridge Park and Hudson River Park are two notable examples. But from the days of the first Dutch colonial settlement in the 1600s, until the 1960s, most of the waterfront had been virtually inaccessible except to those involved in the commercial maritime activities that had been the basis of the city’s economy. And if not consumed by docks, piers, factories and other structures, transportation arteries – railways, parkways, and highways – girded many more miles of the waterfront, further impeding access.
The Municipal Archives collections includes extensive documentation of the City’s investment in its waterfront. The records date from the earliest years of the Department of Docks (1870– 1897); Docks and Ferries (1898 -1918); Department of Docks (1919-1942); Marine and Aviation (1942-1977); Ports and Terminals (1978-1985), through its final iteration, the Department of Ports and Trade (1986-1991). These series offer hundreds of cubic feet of maps, surveys, official correspondence and photographs.
Here are some of the more evocative images of New York’s working waterfront in its glory days.
Teams waiting at East 35th Street for the ferry to Brooklyn, November 1910. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Dozens of steamship lines brought hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the United States via New York City. Italian Line, West 34th Street, 1903. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Not every inch of the waterfront was devoted to commercial activities. In 1897, the Department of Docks built the first Recreation Pier at Corlear’s Hook in Manhattan; others were added on the East River at 112th Street, and the Hudson River at Christopher Street and 50th Street. Designed in the French Renaissance style they featured seating for 500 on the second floor and typically offered musical entertainments and food concessions. Recreation Pier Rendering, undated. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Recreation Pier. The sign over the entry doors reads: “Dancing on this Pier for Children from 3 to 5 p.m. Daily Except Sunday.” Recreation Pier, undated. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The Cty began building the East River Drive in 1929 and the West Side Highway in 1931. By the time master builder Robert Moses finished construction in the 1950s, multi-lane arterial highways would line the waterfronts of four of the five Boroughs. Elevated Public Highway, looking south from Duane Street, June 23, 1937. Borough President Manhattan Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Completed in 1910, the Chelsea Piers along the Hudson River between Little West 12th Street and West 23rd Street were built to accommodate the new Titanic-class of ocean liners coming from Europe. Warren & Wetmore, architects of Grand Central Terminal, designed the pier sheds. Pier 56, Chelsea Piers Elevation, Department of Ports and Trade Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
In the 1930s, W.P.A. Federal Writers’ Project staff photographed dockworkers loading and unloading cargo on piers throughout the city. By the 1960s, containerization would eliminate thousands of these jobs. Unloading coffee from Brazil at the Gowanus Bay Pier, Brooklyn, ca. 1937. WPA-Federal Writers’ Project Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The fishing industry persevered in lower Manhattan until 2005 when it relocated to the Hunts Point Market in The Bronx. Fulton Fish Market, April 14, 1952. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
By the mid-20th century, New York was one of the worlds’ greatest port cities. At its peak this vast infrastructure extended well beyond lower Manhattan and included miles of Brooklyn’s waterfront. Aerial view of the Brooklyn waterfront near Atlantic Avenue, September 19, 1956. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The Department of Marine and Aviation collection includes large format color transparencies. Aerial view, East River, Manhattan, November 5, 1953. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Until the advent of jet air service in the 1960s, luxury ocean liners dominated the trans-Atlantic market. The S.S. United States and the S.S. America, New York harbor, April 7, 1963. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
In the 1960s the commercial cargo industry defected to the Port of Newark in New Jersey which had space to accommodate the mechanized equipment needed to load and unload the containerized shipments. Many of the City’s plans to improve its waterfront infrastructure during that time period went no further than the drawing board. East River, Manhattan, Pier Improvements, Rendering. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Perhaps Department of Marine and Aviation Commissioner Edward F. Cavanagh was mourning the end of an era as he watched the arrival of the Queen Mary in New York harbor on February 6, 1953. (Negative damaged.) Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY SEATNG AREA NOW OPEN AND WAITING FOR YOU TO VISIT OUR NOW FULLY OPENED NYPL BRANCH
ALEXIS VILLEFANE, NINA LUBLIN, JAY JACOBSON, GLORIA HERMAN, MITCH ELINSON, ALL GOT IT!!!
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
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DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM CORNELL TECH A NEW WATERFRONT WALKWAY/PROMENADE IS TAKING SHAPE. ENJOY WATCHING THE GIANT CRANES AND BARGES WORKING IN THE RIVER.
YOU CAN WATCH PROGRESS AS NEW SECTIONS ARE FLOATED INTO PLACE EVERY WEEKEND.
A rendering of the East Midtown Greenway, as it will appear looking north near East 54th Street. (New York City Economic Development Corporation)
The creation of the East Midtown Greenway (EMG), a 1.5-acre public space stretching from East 53rd to 61st Streets along the waterfront, got underway Friday. The project, to be completed by 2022, is part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway initiative to wrap the entire perimeter of Manhattan with accessible public spaces and safe bicycle paths. The midtown space will close one of the largest remaining gaps in the $250 million city initiative, announced by Mayor de Blasio in 2018, to connect 32 miles of Manhattan waterfront esplanade.
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenaway project will close gaps in Inwood, Harlem, and East Harlem, as well as the East Midtown space. The goal is to connect neighborhoods to their waterfronts and add about 15 acres of open space. The planned esplanade will connect the bike paths that line the city’s perimeter so that cyclists can safely circle Manhattan without veering off into city streets.
After a six-month delay during the pandemic, construction has resumed on the long-awaited project adding a new eight-block stretch to the East River Esplanade.
The East Midtown Greenway will stretch between East 53rd and 61st streets, creating new waterfront access and public space and bringing the city closer to its long-held goal of creating a continuous, 32-mile loop around Manhattan.
The existing esplanade runs north above East 60th Street and into East Harlem. Construction started in November on the new $100 million greenway, which will be built directly above the East River, but came to a halt in the spring as the coronavirus took hold.
Now, even as the city faces a severe fiscal shortfall that has thrown a wrench into many capital projects, the greenway will be allowed to restart construction since work had already begun when the pandemic hit.
RENDERINGS FOR THE PROJECT
(FINAL PLANS MAY HAVE CHANGED)
Portion will be over the water. Remember when there was a temporary roadway in this area when the FR Drive was being renovated?
TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY GLORIA HERMAN AND ED LITCHER GOT IT. CON ED HEADQUARTERS 14TH STREET AND IRVING PLACE
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
UPPER EAST SIDE PATCH NYC/EDC 6SQ FT
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Russian-born Saul Kovner studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City with Charles Hawthorne and William Auerbach-Levy, considered one of America’s most renowned caricaturists. Kovner was employed as a painter and printmaker by the Federal Art Project, a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created during the Great Depression to give financial and moral support to America’s artists. He often dropped his surname when signing his prints, and is also known simply as “Saul.” After his training at the National Academy of Design, Kovner maintained a studio near Central Park, creating paintings and drawings of the city and its people. He later moved to California and exhibited widely on the West Coast.
Saul Kovner, Tompkins Park, N.Y. City, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum acquisition, 1980.48
Saul Kovner’s Tompkins Park, N.Y. City was painted in 1934, under the patronage of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), a New Deal program created by the federal government to offer work and financial support to America’s artists during the Great Depression. The public park, situated in the Alphabet City section of Manhattan’s East Village, is named in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins (1774−1825), who served as governor of New York from 1807 to 1817 and as vice president of the United States under James Monroe from 1817 to 1825. The PWAP encouraged their commissioned artists to capture “the American Scene,” and in this painting Kovner conveys strong messages of community spirit and American values. Children and adults enjoy winter in the park, building snowmen and playing with sleds; the presence of the Stars and Stripes in the center of the work places this as a uniquely American scene.
Saul Kovner, Skating in Central Park, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Newark Museum, 1966.31.10
Saul Kovner, Smoke and Steam, 1939, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Audrey McMahon, 1968.98.16
Eastside Backyards, 1934
TENTING IN YOSEMITE HOT SUMMER NIGHT WATERFRONT, BALBOA SNOW OVER CROTONA PARK
(1) Frank Diaz Escalet, “Mask of Solitudes: A Portrait of Frank Diaz Escalet,” interview for La Plaza, PBS/WGBH Boston, Nov. 3, 1988. (2) Interview with Derek Fowles, “Portrait of an artist’s life: Frank Diaz Escalet paints from experience,” University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Newsletter, Sept. 29-Oct. 20, 1994. (3) Escalet, “Mask of Solitudes,” interview for La Plaza, 1988. (4) Michael R. Vosburgh, “Latin artist portrays ‘life’ in his work,” The Daily Globe, Worthington, Minnesota, Oct. 1995. (5) Jared Quinn, “MultiCultural Center Showcases African-American Exhibit Illustrating Cultural Influences,” UC Santa Barbara Daily Nexus, Santa Barbara, California, Oct. 8, 1999. (6) Escalet, “Mask of Solitudes,” interview for La Plaza, 1988. (7) Interview with Jenifer McKim, The Boston Globe, Nov. 10, 1996.
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Title:New York, 1695 Creator:Miller, John, 1666-1724 Date:[1860?–1869?]Format: Maps/Atlases Location:Boston Public Library
Title: Plan of New York Creator: Kirkham, Major Date: [1912?] Format: Maps/Atlases Location: Boston Public Library
Miller’s new map of the city of New-York Miller’s new map of the city of New York with a list of all the streets, with reference to the map, and views of some of the principal buildings
Title:Map of New-York Creator:Geo. H. Walker & Co Date:1898 Format:Maps/Atlases Location:Boston Public Library Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
Title: New York City : the business center of the borough of Manhattan Creator: Rummell, Richard, 1848-1924 Creator: King, Moses, 1853-1909 Creator: A.W. Elson & Co
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY SAUL STEINBERF NEW YORKER COVER FROM MARCH 29, 1976
CLARA BELLA, GUY LUDWIG, ARON EISENPRIESS, HARA REISER, JAY JACOBON, ED LITCHER, LAURA HUSSEY ALL KENEW THE ANSWER
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff Sources
BOSTON PUBLIC LIRARY
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Elizabeth Olds, Dead End Beach, ca. 1940-1945, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.43
Elizabeth Olds (December 10, 1896 – March 4, 1991) was an American artist known for her work in developing silkscreen as a fine arts medium. She was a painter and illustrator, but is primarily known as a printmaker, using silkscreen, woodcut, lithography processes. In 1926, she became the first female honored with the Guggenheim Fellowship. She studied under George Luks,[4] was a Social Realist, and worked for the Public Works of Art Project and Federal Art Project during the Great Depression. In her later career, Olds wrote and illustrated six children’s books.
Elizabeth Olds, The Middle Class, ca. 1939, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.7
Early life and education
Olds was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to a middle-class family.[4] Olds’s mother was an art historian, and her mother exposed Olds and her sister, Eleanor, to art through visits to the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Institute of Arts.[Olds’s art was first documented in her high school yearbook, featuring a cartoon sketch of a goose at tea.[ She studied Home Economics and Architectural Drawing at the University of Minnesota from 1916-1918, and received a scholarship to study at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design from 1918-1921. In 1921, Olds received another scholarship to study at the Art Students League of New York where she studied under George Luks.
Career
Early works The early style of Olds reflects Luks’s influence on her art. The pair experimented with the style and themes of the Ashcan school, visiting the Lower East Side of New York to observe the exotic urban immigrant. During the summers from 1923-1925, Olds was invited to the circles of The Roots and their friends and the Percy Saunders of Clinton, New York.[4] In 1925, with the help of Elihu Root and some bankers, Olds was funded to travel to France.[4] While in France, she observed and sketched the famous circus family, the Fratellini family, and their show, “Cirque d’Hiver.”Olds later joined the troupe as a trick bareback rider.In 1926, Olds became the first woman awarded with the Guggenheim Fellowship, and was granted further travel in Europe.
Elizabeth Olds, Harlem River Bridges, ca. 1935-1940, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.37
Elizabeth Olds, Harlem River Bridges, 1940, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.32
Great Depression
For those visiting the Hunters Point area of Queens this summer, MoMA’s PS1 outdoor courtyard will feature an experiment in creative ecologies. As a leading space within the neighborhood’s community, the new installation will reimagine the use and access of the PS1 courtyard. It will feature Rashid Johnson’s Stage, a participatory installation and sound work, which draws on the history of the microphone as a tool of protest and public oratory. It will feature a yellow powder-coated stage, with Johnson’s signature markings engraved onto it, and five SM58 microphones of varying heights. Stage’s design echoes that of other unofficial sites of public intellectual and cultural life like Harlem’s 135th Street and Lenox Avenue. Visitors will have the opportunity to speak to the public on the stage, with their words being recorded and broadcasted in the courtyard. In addition, the stage will feature a number of performances from artists, activists, poets, and musicians.
Two Boys, a painting by Elizabeth Olds for the United States Works Progress Administration Olds was fairly sheltered from the Great Depression when she returned to the U.S. in 1929. In 1932, Olds viewed José Clemente Orozco’s nearly finished murals at Dartmouth College, and was inspired by his expressive use of form and political themes.The same year, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska to paint portraits of the family of Samuel Rees, a local industrialist.[6] Olds completed the project, but she became frustrated with the monotony of painting portraits. At the same time Olds was studying the basics of lithography at Rees’s printing business.
From 1933-1934, Olds was invited to join the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in Omaha. Under the PWAP, Olds created a series of lithographs featuring the bread lines, shelters, and clinics of the Great Depression.[ Olds’s break from portraiture was fruitful as she developed her style and content, which like Orozco’s murals, used broad, expressive lines and portrayed political themes. Later, Olds studied at a meat packing plant, which inspired her ‘’Stockyard Series’’. “Sheep Skinners,” one of the ten black-and-white lithographs, was exhibited in 1935 in the Weyhe Gallery in New York as one of the “Fifty Best Prints of the Year.”
From 1935 until the early 1940s, Olds was a nonrelief employee for the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) in the Graphic Arts Division in New York,[9] where she helped younger artists in the silkscreen unit.[10] She also joined the American Artists’ Congress, Artists Union, and other groups with similar interests. Olds became friends with Harry Gottlieb, another nonrelief artist who also focused on industrialism.[7] Together, they observed the mining and steel industries of New York, and their research lead to Olds’s creation of her award-winning print, “Miner Joe.”[ Olds used both silkscreen and lithography for the prints for ‘‘Miner Joe,’’ but it was her lithograph that won first place for the Philadelphia Print Club competition in 1938.
Olds and Gottlieb experimented with silkscreen printing as a fine arts medium. They accomplished this with a few other artists in the silkscreen unit of the Graphic Arts Division of the WPA-FAP in New York. From 1939 until 1941, Olds and Gottlieb opened and ran the independent Silk Screen School for students interested in learning the newest printmaking technologies.Her work was included in the 1940 MoMA show American Color Prints Under $10. The show was organized as a vehicle for bringing affordable fine art prints to the general public.
Olds submitted and reproduced 10 prints in The New Masses in 1936 and 1937, a leftist magazine at the time. In the United American Artists under the Public Use of Art Committee, Olds and other artists worked to produce murals along New York City Subway walls, but the murals were never installed.] Olds’s art reflected her leftist political views, but also her social and political awareness at the time. As a WPA-FAP employee, Olds’s prints were intended to go to the government for their purposes, but she selectively sent her leftist prints to George C. Miller, an independent lithographer.
Elizabeth Olds, Me and Her, ca. 1940-1970, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.31
Elizabeth Olds, Harlem Musicians, ca. 1937, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American ArElizabeth Olds,
Two Terns Parading, 1955, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.t, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.2
Elizabeth Olds, Burlesque, ca. 1935-1945, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.40
Elizabeth Olds, Birds in a Hurry, 1954, color woodcut and screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1984.31.46
Later works
After the war, Olds redirected her skills and began experimenting with watercolor, collage, and woodblock prints] Her silk screen, “Three Alarm Fire” (1945), prompted Roberta Fansler to suggest that Olds should illustrate children’s books.] From 1945-1963, Olds wrote and illustrated six children’s books. In three of her books, Olds wrote about firefighters, trains, and oil, educating her readers about industrialism.
In the early 1950s, Olds was hired as an illustrator-reporter for The New Republic and Fortune (magazine).[18] In the summers of the 1950s and 1960s, Olds was awarded artist-in-residence positions at the artists’ colonies of Yaddo near Saratoga Springs in New York and McDowell in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Her papers are held at the University of Texas.
THE ORIGINAL WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL AT 350 FIFTH AVENUE ANDY SPARBERG AND LAURA HUSSEY GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM WIKIPEDIA
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LAURA HUSSEY, LINDA BECKER & ED LITCHER GOT IT RIGHT
In 1969, David Rockefeller commissioned Jean Dubuffet to create a sculpture to be placed in front of the Chase Manhattan Building . The sculpture, Group of Four Trees, towers above the visitor in varying heights, in Dubuffet’s signature loopy, childlike style. It feels as if you are almost walking into a children’s coloring book, with uncolored trees leaping from the pages and growing above you. A fantasy contrast before entering a staunch financial institution! This coloring book effect is seemingly what Dubuffet intended, calling them not sculptures but drawings, which extend and expand into space.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Deborah Dorff Roosevelt Island Historical Society
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