New York School of Artists and Writers Tour

The 1928 16-story Colonial Revival style apartment building at 49-51 Fifth Avenue was the home of highly acclaimed expressionist-turned-representational painter Jane Freilicher. Freilicher, known for her vibrant landscapes and still lifes, was a longtime Village resident who studied at the Village-based Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in the late 1940s. She resided in the East Village on 11th Street and 16 West 11th Street before moving to 49-51 Fifth Avenue in 1965. The artist lived at this address, where she had a greenhouse studio, until her death in 2014. According to Freilicher, interviewed for the “Greenwich Village Stories” collection published by Village Preservation, she could paint views from her studio “in more or less every direction.” “I have painted these views for years, never tiring of them,” Freilicher affirmed.

The "New York School," a groundbreaking group of writers and artists who collaborated across disciplines, was rooted in the neighborhood south of Union Square in the mid-20th century. This loosely defined but transformative collective is credited with shifting the center of the art world from Paris to New York.