From 1952 to 1959, 88 East 10th Street was the home and studio of Dutch-American painter Willem de Kooning, one of the most significant of the abstract expressionists who redefined the international art world and pulled its center to East 10th Street. De Kooning lived and worked here during some of his most important years as an artist when he and his contemporaries helped create the famed “Tenth Street Galleries” on East 10th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues.

Willem de Kooning on 88 East 10th Street Stoop with Novelist Noel Clad, April 5, 1959. Photo © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah These highly influential abstract expressionists found the area anti-picturesque – an ideal setting for their anti-romantic painting – and their presence here precipitated a larger movement of artists from Greenwich Village to the more affordable East Village. 88 East 10th Street was also the first place where de Kooning combined his working studio with his residence – a trend for artists in the mid-20th century which came to transform nearby neighborhoods like SoHo and NoHo, of which this was an early example.

“Woman 1” by Williem de Kooning, 1950-1952 While at this studio, de Kooning completed many of his major works, including those featuring New York City’s downtown and de Kooning’s surroundings on East 10th Street. In his first years at No. 88, de Kooning turned his attention to his Woman series, featured in March of 1953 at the Sidney Janis Gallery in the “Willem de Kooning: Paintings on the Theme of Woman” exhibit. The Museum of Modern Art bought “Woman I,” and Blanchette Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller III, bought “Woman II.” In the fall of 1954 through the next year and a half, de Kooning transitioned to painting what Thomas Hess, editor and art critic of the time for ArtNews, referred to as “abstract urban landscape” and what art critic Harold Rosenberg called the “no environment” of the East 10th Street artist enclave.

“Easter Monday” by Willem de Kooning, 1955 “Easter Monday,” the last and most famous of the de Kooning urban abstractions, was finished the day before his second show at the Sidney Janis Gallery on April 3, 1956. In his review of the show, Hess said that de Kooning “had replaced Picasso and Miro as the most influential painter at work today.” After World War II, New York supplanted Paris as the center of the art world, and following the death of Jackson Pollock in 1956, de Kooning was considered the master of that world. It was during the 1950’s that the then-novel concept of artist-run galleries began to flourish, particularly on de Kooning’s block.

88-82 East 10th Street (l. to r.). Among the visible businesses are the New York Hotel Employment Agency, The Stryke Gallery, 84 Gallery, and the J\&J Polishing and Plating Co., August 23, 1963. Photo © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah Though de Kooning found a new, larger studio space by 1958 or early 1959 at 831 Broadway, he continued to work in his East 10th Street studio while a renovation of the new space occurred, and rented out No. 88 until 1963. Today, very few of the structures housing the former galleries and artists’ studios central to this abstract expressionist school of the 1940s and 1950s remain from this period. 88 East 10th Street, by contrast, is nearly intact to its appearance during de Kooning’s time.

Selma Hortense Burke with her portrait bust of Booker T. Washington, 1930s “One of the most notable sculptors of the twentieth century” according to the National Women’s History Museum, the celebrated artist, educator, and self-described “people’s sculptor” Selma Hortense Burke also lived and worked at 88 East 10th Street from 1944 until at least 1949, according to New York City directories. While here, Burke completed “The Four Freedoms,” a 2 ½ by 3 ½ foot relief plaque commemorating President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which was used as a model for his image on the U.S. dime coin. Burke is celebrated for her lifelong commitment to the art of sculpture and to art education, for her highly regarded portrayals of towering African American figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Booker T. Washington, and Mary McLeod Bethune, for her significance in the Harlem Renaissance, for her unabashed drawing upon African models for her art, and for achieving success as a Black woman sculptor at a time when few female or Black artists, and even fewer Black female artists, were able to achieve any success or recognition in the United States.

Selma Hortense Burke with her relief plaque of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt In 1941, Burke joined a competition to create a profile portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and in 1943 she won and was commissioned to produce a relief plaque of the President. Burke had two sittings to sketch the President in person, and completed the plaque while living at 88 East 10th Street. In March 1945, as Burke remained at 88 East 10th Street, Eleanor Roosevelt visited her studio to approve the final design. The plaque was dedicated following Roosevelt’s death, on September 24, 1945 at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. “The Four Freedoms” was unveiled by Frederick Weaver, Frederick Douglass’ grandson, and President Harry S. Truman spoke at the event. While U.S. Mint Chief Engraver John Sinnock is credited with Roosevelt’s image on the U.S. dime coin, Burke’s relief plaque is widely accepted as the model and original version. Throughout her life, Burke herself insisted that her design was plagiarized on the dime coin. Significantly, Burke also established the Selma Burke School of Sculpture while living here in 1946, as recorded in an article published that year in Headlines and Pictures (Chicago, Illinois). At this time, the school was located at 67 West 3rd Street (demolished).

U.S. Dime Coin, 2017 Throughout her life, Burke completed a number of sculptural projects, including Mother and Child (1968) and Big Mama (1972), which focused on the experience of Black women. Some of her other well-known pieces include Torso (1937), Temptation (c. 1938), Untitled (Woman and Child) (c. 1950, now found in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Despair (1951), Fallen Angel (1958), and Together (1975, now found in the collection of the Hill House Association). Her final monumental work, an eight-foot tall sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr., which stands in Marshall Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, was dedicated in 1980. Over the course of her career Burke also completed portraits of Booker T. Washington, Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune (now found in the collection of the Woodmere Art Museum), and other renowned Black figures. Her work is now found in the collection of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among other museums and institutions. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The International Workers Order (IWO) was located at 80 Fifth Avenue for its entire lifetime, from 1930 until 1954.

This progressive mutual-benefit fraternal organization was a pioneering force in the U.S. labor movement.

International Workers Order emblem, 1930-1939 For a quarter of a century, the IWO fought relentlessly for racial equality, interracial solidarity, industrial unions, and social security programs that would protect working-class people. At one point, painter Rockwell Kent served as the IWO’s national president.

Rockwell Kent, c. 1920 The IWO contained a number of workers’ schools, which taught painting, sculpture, and music in addition to working-class history, Marxism, and union organizing. It also financially supported other leftist schools, including the Jefferson School for Social Science. Here, IWO members could take painting classes with artists such as Philip Evergood and Anton Refregier. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

By 1940, 68 Fifth Avenue housed The Music Box Canteen, a celebrated World War II entertainment venue for GIs described at the time as “one of the most famous metropolitan service centers, and…‘a home away from home’ to thousands of servicemen.” The Canteen was known not just to American GIs but was popular among allied military men from across the world.

In 1943 the Chinese-American modernist artist Yun Gee (1906-1963) staged an exhibition to raise funds for the Music Box Canteen. Gee had been an active fundraiser for causes in China and a participant in WPA programs since the Depression. Beyond contributing to political causes, from this point on Gee’s work featured overtly political themes. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

In 1962, the magazine Forbes Inc. purchased 60-62 Fifth Avenue.

At this time, Malcolm Forbes, son of the business’ founder B. C. Forbes who in 1964 inherited the company, also purchased the adjacent townhouse at 11 West 12th Street. Forbes lived here, in the Greenwich Village Historic District, while owning and working out of 60 Fifth Avenue.

"Forbes" logo Notably, he renovated the Fifth Avenue building to include the Forbes Galleries in the ground floor, housing his unrivalled collection of Faberge eggs, toy soldiers, and the earliest homemade monopoly board. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

59 Fifth Avenue was home to several members of a family who were among the most important American patrons of the arts of the 19th century: Jonathan Sturges; his son-in-law and daughter, William H. Osborn and Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn; and their children, Henry Fairfield Osborn and William Church Osborn. The house was located in the midst of New York’s emerging arts and cultural center, with the National Academy of the Arts nearby at 58 East 13th Street, the Tenth Street Studios at 51 West 10th Street, the New York Society Library on University Place between 12th and 13th Streets, and the Astor Place Opera House, the Astor Library, the Academy of Music, Cooper Union, the New-York Historical Society, and New York University all just a few blocks away.

Jonathan Sturges, c. 1840 In this context, it’s no surprise that Jonathan Sturges (1802-1874), prominent businessman and patron of the arts, chose to purchase the newly-built house at 59 Fifth Avenue for his new son-in-law William H. Osborn, and his daughter, Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn. They too were extremely generous and prodigious patrons of the arts and cultural and charitable institutions in 19th century New York City — a tradition which would be carried on well into the 20th century by their children, Henry Fairfield Osborn and William Church Osborn, who also lived at 59 Fifth Avenue.

“View near Saugerties” by Asher B. Durand, 1836 According to scholar Christine Isabelle Oaklander, “Jonathan Sturges was a leading force in promoting American art and American art institutions from the 1830s until his death in 1874.” Born in Southport, Connecticut, Sturges came to New York City in 1821 and soon went to work for the man who would eventually become his business partner, Luman Reed (1787-1836), owner of a mercantile business at 125 Front Street. Reed’s tutelage of Sturges extended beyond business and into patronage of the arts. Through Reed, Sturges developed relationships with artists such as Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, and William Sidney Mount. Sturges is credited with encouraging Durand to transition from portraits to landscapes, and in 1836 commissioned Durand’s first landscape, View Near Saugerties. Other artists who were the beneficiaries of Sturges’ patronage included Henry Peters Gray, Frederic Edwin Church, John Gadsby Chapman, Henry Kirke Brown, Francis W. Edmonds, Henry Inman, Robert W. Weir, Daniel Huntington, and Charles C. Ingham. Sturges became a leading force in promoting the arts in America, through purchases, financial support of New York’s young arts institutions, and facilitating the sale of art to his friends and colleagues. His art collection was recognized as one of ten noteworthy private collections in New York City by Henry T. Tuckerman in his 1867 Book of Artists. His generosity included paying above asking price for works by artists he supported, and offering them stipends to paint. His name is not nearly as well-known as some of his contemporaries who supported the arts, in large part because Sturges consistently shunned public attention for his philanthropic activities, unlike many of his peers who actively sought and encouraged it. In 1844, Sturges, along with Reed’s son-in-law Theodore Allen, founded the New York Gallery of the Fine Arts, the city’s first public art museum. The Gallery was established to preserve and exhibit Reed’s collections after he passed away in 1836, and Sturges soon became its president. When the New York Gallery of the Fine Arts dissolved, the collection went to the New-York Historical Society, another New York institution which benefited from Sturges’ generosity. So supportive of the aforementioned National Academy of Design was Sturges that he was made one of only a very few non-artist members. The Academy also commissioned his portrait for their permanent collection, and upon his death the Academy’s Council said of Sturges “to no other lay members are we more generously and gratefully indebted.” Sturges was also a founding member of the Sketch Club, a social club of artists and patrons, and its offshoot, the Century Association. Toward the end of his life, Sturges was involved with the planning and founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“The Aegean Sea” by Frederic Edwin Church, 1877 William H. Osborn (1820-1894), born into humble beginnings, proved as successful in business as his father-in-law Jonathan Sturges, becoming one of the country’s most prominent and successful railroad tycoons. By the age of 30 he was a wealthy man, subsequently moving to and settling in New York City. He came to know Jonathan Sturges and married his daughter Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn (1830-1902) in 1853. Much like and perhaps influenced by his father-in-law, Osborn also became a significant patron of the arts. Of particular note is his relationship with renowned Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), perhaps the most famous American painter of his time. Some of the notable paintings by Church that Osborn purchased include Andes of Ecuador (1855), Chimborazo (1864), and Pichinacha (1867). Osborn financed Church’s travel to locations that served as settings and inspiration for these masterpieces, perhaps most famously The Aegean Sea (1877). Osborn’s youngest son William Church Osborn was named after Church. So close were William H. and Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn to Church that Church and his wife Isabel spent most winters when not traveling at their home. Isabel died on May 12, 1899, after a long illness, at their home, and on April 7, 1900, Church died at the same location. Other artists represented in the Osborns’ collection include George Loring Brown, Samuel Worcester Rowse, Thomas Cole, Asher Durand, Daniel Huntington, and Sanford Gifford, among others. Osborn was also one of 19th century New York’s great patrons of the arts, including as one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and one of the largest donors to the museum’s initial capital campaign. In addition to monetary support, he donated paintings from his own collection to the museum, and along with Sturges, donated money to a fund to keep a collection of Egyptian antiquities in New York City to be displayed at the museum. Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn also served on the board of the Society of Decorative Arts, which encouraged women to earn a living by creating needlework and ceramics, and the board of the art section of the 1864 New York Sanitary Fair, which was held to raise money for medical provisions for the Union troops.

William Church Osborn, c. 1910-1915 The Osborns had two sons, Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) and William Church Osborn (1862-1951), both of whom grew up and lived at 59 Fifth Avenue. With the death of Virginia in 1902, William and Henry each inherited half of their parent’s vast art collection, and donated many of those artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. William expanded his personal collection with works by French Impressionists and post-Impressionists such as Monet, Manet, and Gaugin, at a time when such art was largely a novelty in this country. In 1904, William was elected a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and would serve the institution in various critical capacities until his death in 1951. In 1932 he became Vice-President, and in 1933 when the current President William Sloane Coffin died suddenly, the board proposed Osborn as his successor. He declined, instead recommending George Blumenthal for the position, the museum’s first Jewish trustee. Osborn succeeded Blumenthal as President in 1941, remaining in the position until 1947. Osborn’s tenure with the Met came during a pivotal period for the museum. Several building projects were executed, collections and staff were expanded, and practices of museum management were formalized. In 1907 he directed the museum’s first purchase of an Impressionist painting, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Madame Charpentier and Her Children — a bold and controversial acquisition at the time. He also established the Met’s junior museum, an innovative interactive and educational resource for schoolchildren soon emulated by many other museums. Osborn made several important gifts of artwork to the museum, including Edouard Manet’s The Spanish Singer and Paul Gauguin’s Two Tahitian Women. Through bequests he left works by Monet, Pissarro and William Blake.

William Church Osborn Gates at the Fifth Avenue and 85th Street entrance to Central Park, 2009 William Church Osborn’s contributions to the arts, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and to New York civic life are memorialized in a particularly prominent and beautiful form with the Osborn Gates at the Fifth Avenue and 85th Street entrance to Central Park, just north of the Museum. Located at the entrance to the Ancient Playground, the gates depict five of Aesop’s fables. Declared by the Municipal Art Society one of the most important pieces in Central Park when installed in 1953, the gates were designed by sculptor Paul Manship and architect Aymar Embury II, and donated by the William Church Osborn Memorial Committee as a tribute to his contributions to the city and museum. By the late 19th century, 59 Fifth Avenue was primarily utilized for commercial, artistic, and literary purposes, just like so many of the buildings in the area south of Union Square. Around 1900, artists and illustrators Annie Blakeslee Hooper and Will Philip Hooper had their studios here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

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.

“Champion Flowers” by Jane Freilicher likely showing the view from her building at 51 Fifth Avenue, 1999 One of the most esteemed female artists of her generation, Freilicher was a significant, unifying presence in the New York School, an informal group developed in the 1950s that included artists Larry Rivers, Grace Hartigan, Alfred Leslie, Robert Goodnough, Mike Goldberg, and Fairfield Porter. Freilicher was especially close to the School’s poets, Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, James Schuyler, and Frank O’Hara, with whom she shared deep friendships and a distinctive artistic camaraderie. Each of these individuals wrote about Freilicher and her work, and she in turn painted their portraits, designed their book covers, and corresponded with them regularly. The impact of these relationships on the life and work of Freilicher, Koch, Ashbery, Schuyler, and O’Hara – all renowned artists and writers in their own right – cannot be overstated. While living at 49-51 Fifth Avenue for almost fifty years, Freilicher expanded her portfolio, exhibited across the country, and received a number of major awards including the National Academy of Design Saltus Gold Medal, the Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild Hall Museum, and the Academy of Arts and Letters’ highest honor: a Gold Medal in Painting. By the end of her life, her art had been shown in over fifty solo exhibitions and hundreds of group exhibitions, and it is now in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of Art. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The Salmagundi Club was organized in 1871 for the “the promotion of social intercourse among artists and the advancement of the art” and named for the “Salmagundi Papers,” a satirical magazine published by short-story writer Washington Irving in which he coined the term “Gotham.” The Club purchased the grand 1852-1853 Italianate-style building at 47 Fifth Avenue in 1917, and has resided here ever since.

Notable members of the Club include illustrators Edwin Abbey, N.C. Wyeth, and Howard Pyle; impressionist painters William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam; Arts and Crafts pioneer John LaFarge; designer Louis C. Tiffany; Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran; and architect Stanford White. Today, the organization owns a collection of over 1,500 works of art, undertakes small restoration projects, and opens numerous events and classes to the public. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Irish-American artist William Michael Harnett (1848-1892), known for his photo-realistic still-life paintings, lived and worked at 28 East 14th Street from 1886 until 1889. Throughout his life, Harnett maintained a remarkably consistent style and is now remembered for his use of trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”). The Metropolitan Museum of Art states that Harnett was the “most imitated and skillful still-life painter in late-nineteenth-century America.” His work includes The Faithful Colt (1890), Job Lot, Cheap (1878), The Old Violin (1886), and his most famous, After the Hunt (1885).

“The Old Violin” by William Michael Harnett, 1886 Trained as an engraver when he was a teenager, Harnett enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1866, then moved to New York in 1869. Here he worked at a silver engraving shop and attended classes at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. Harnett later returned to Philadelphia to study again at the Pennsylvania Academy, and after a lucrative painting sale in 1880, was able to study and work abroad. He spent the bulk of this trip in Munich, where he lived for three years. When Harnett returned to the United States, he moved to 28 East 14th Street. Other artists who lived at this address include William J. Johnston and John W. Blake, who together formed the art dealership W.J. Johnston & Co. Artist Jeanne Ogden also rented a studio here in 1908. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

From approximately 1940 until 1943, 30 East 14th Street was the home and studio of painter Virginia Admiral, who lived here first with her friends and then with her husband Robert De Niro Sr. (and perhaps for a short time with their newborn child, the actor Robert De Niro Jr.). Admiral and De Niro Sr. were two people on an almost-unrivaled list of artists who called 30 East 14th Street home in the 20th century. The individuals who lived and worked in this building were part of a trailblazing community who drew the center of the American – and ultimately global – art world below Fourteenth Street.

Virginia Admiral After earning her Bachelor’s degree working on the Federal Arts Project in Oakland, Virginia Admiral moved into 30 East 14th Street along with her friends Janet Thurman and Marjorie McKee. Admiral was visited often by poet Robert Duncan and writer Anaïs Nin, both of whom documented her apartment in their respective journals. Around this time, Admiral received a scholarship to the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, a Greenwich Village-based institution which played a pivotal role in the development of abstract expressionism. Here she met the emerging figurative expressionist painter Robert De Niro Sr., considered one of Hofmann’s most promising students.

Robert de Niro, Sr. Admiral and De Niro Sr. began sharing the loft on 14th Street in 1941, were married by January of 1942, and gave birth to Robert De Niro Jr. on August 17, 1943. This was a formative period in the career of both artists, when they developed friendships with now-esteemed literary and artistic figures including writer Henry Miller and playwright Tennessee Williams. Within a few years both Admiral and De Niro Sr. had exhibited at Peggy Guggenheim’s “Art of This Century” gallery, where many artists of the era launched their careers.

“Flowers in a Blue Vase” by Robert de Niro, Sr. Today, Admiral continues to be known for her art, which was heavily influenced by her activism — particularly in the anti-war movement — and is part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. De Niro Sr. also taught and exhibited throughout his career, and is honored comprehensively by The Estate of Robert De Niro, Sr. and in the 2019 monograph Robert De Niro, Sr.: Paintings, Drawings, and Writings: 1942-1993.

Kenneth Hayes Miller, c. 1910 Other notable artist residents of 30 East 14th Street include “Fourteenth Street School” painter and Art Students League teacher Kenneth Hayes Miller.

“In the Park” by Kenneth Hayes Miller, 1923 Miller was known particularly for his depictions of the sales girls and shoppers that filled the 14th Street and Union Square neighborhood.

Yasuo Kuniyoshi in his studio at 30 East 14th Street, October 31, 1940 By 1940, social realist painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi also had a studio at 30 East 14th Street, and in 1945 modernist Howard Daum moved into Studio K on the second floor, living and working here for the rest of his life and frequently painting from the rooftop. While Daum was here, painter Carl Ashby and painter, activist, and poet Helen DeMott had studios in the building. Painter, printmaker, and cartoonist Charles Keller had a studio at 30 East 14th Street from 1945 to 1953, formerly occupied by sculptor Arnold Blanch, which he shared with muralist and printmaker Harry Sternberg, who stayed here from 1945 to 1967. Realist and surrealist painter Andrée Ruellan and representational painter Edwin Dickinson had studios here as well. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

In the late 19th and early 20th century, this striking 1892 seven-story store and loft Beaux-Arts Belle Époque structure at 24 East 13th Street housed Heinigke & Bowen, producers of architectural stained glass and mosaics. Owen J. Bowen was a former associate of both Tiffany and La Farge, while Otto Heingeke was a sought-after glass artisan who enjoyed a career as a successful watercolorist.

Woolworth Ceiling Mosaic by Heinigke & Bowen Their firm was employed by some of the leading architects of the time, including McKim, Mead & White, Cass Gilbert, and John Russell Pope. They were the designers of the stained glass in such noted landmarks as the Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Woolworth Building. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Julian Alden Weir (August 30, 1852 – December 8, 1919) was a leading American impressionist painter and a founding member of “The Ten American Painters” or “The Ten,” a group of dissident artists who found the American academy hostile to their embrace of impressionism and banded together to advance their own work. According to the 1880 Census, Weir lived at 24 East 10th Street with his parents and siblings, and according to the 1884-1885 City Directory, he lived at 31 West 10th Street. But in 1886, Weir and his wife Anna moved into 11 East 12th Street, remaining until 1907, as documented in the Cultural Landscape report for the Weir Farm National Historic Site.

Julian Alden Weir, late 1800s Weir married Anna at the nearby landmarked Church of the Ascension at Fifth Avenue and 10th Street. When the church’s interior was remodeled in 1885-1889 by Stanford White, Weir joined John LaFarge, D. Maitland Armstrong, and Louis Comfort Tiffany in contributing designs for new memorial windows. Weir’s “An Incident in the Flight into Egypt” remains there today.

“The Red Bridge” by Julian Alden Weir, c. 1895 Weir was the first president of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, and later became president of the National Academy of Design. He was also a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1916 until his death in 1919. Today Weir’s paintings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He was one of the leading proponents of impressionism in America, helping to bring this modern and groundbreaking style from Europe. He also helped move the American Academy away from its exclusive loyalty to classical styles, thus assisting in ushering in a new era when America would join, and eventually lead, the avant-garde in western art, as opposed to merely employing accepted styles from the western canon.

“Smoko, the Human Volcano” by Reginald Marsh, 1933 Social realist painter Reginald Marsh (1898–1954) lived at 11 East 12th Street in the 1930s, the period in which he gained his greatest prominence and his most celebrated works were produced. Marsh first resided at 11 East 12th Street from February 1933 until January 1934, then moved to 4 East 12th Street in May 1934. At this time, he was one of the key figures of the “Fourteenth Street School” of painters, an influential group of artists in the 1920s and 30s who lived and worked in this area. The Fourteenth Street School painters came to redefine realist painting, often focusing on their immediate and workaday surroundings on or near their namesake street, a center of shopping and entertainment for average and working-class New Yorkers. In addition to Marsh, the group included Kenneth Hayes Miller, Isabel Bishop, Arnold Blanch, and twin brothers Raphael and Moses Soyer. Marsh was born in Paris to expatriate artist parents who returned to the United States around 1900. In 1916, he entered Yale University, where he majored in art and drew illustrations for the Yale Record. Following graduation, he arrived in New York and soon established himself as a successful freelance illustrator, working for popular publications including the New York Daily News, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. In 1921, Marsh began attending classes at the Art Students League, where he studied with other members of what would become the Fourteenth Street School. A careful though detached observer, Marsh excelled at representing crowds of New Yorkers, showing lively scenes of both the unemployed and the working class going about their daily activities. Burlesque shows, movie houses, elevated trains, Depression homeless encampments, and places of work all figured prominently in Marsh’s paintings. Often the scenes he depicted were not far from his perch just off Union Square. Marsh also made linocuts, lithographs, drawings, engravings and etchings. His etching ‘Box at the Metropolitan’ was printed on his press at 4 East 12th Street. In his later years Marsh would teach at the Art Students League, where a young Roy Lichtenstein, who would cite him as one of his most prominent influences, was one of his students. Today, Marsh’s murals grace the rotunda of the landmarked U.S. Customs House at 1 Bowling Green, and his work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Brooklyn Museum. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Social realist painter Reginald Marsh (1898–1954) lived at 4 East 12th Street in the 1930s, the period in which he gained his greatest prominence and his most celebrated works were produced. Marsh first resided at 11 East 12th Street from February 1933 until January 1934, then moved to 4 East 12th Street in May 1934. At this time, he was one of the key figures of the “Fourteenth Street School” of painters, an influential group of artists in the 1920s and 30s who lived and worked in this area. The Fourteenth Street School painters came to redefine realist painting, often focusing on their immediate and workaday surroundings on or near their namesake street, a center of shopping and entertainment for average and working-class New Yorkers. In addition to Marsh, the group included Kenneth Hayes Miller, Isabel Bishop, Arnold Blanch, and twin brothers Raphael and Moses Soyer. Marsh was born in Paris to expatriate artist parents who returned to the United States around 1900. In 1916, he entered Yale University, where he majored in art and drew illustrations for the Yale Record. Following graduation, he arrived in New York and soon established himself as a successful freelance illustrator, working for popular publications including the New York Daily News, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. In 1921, Marsh began attending classes at the Art Students League, where he studied with other members of what would become the Fourteenth Street School.

“Sorting the Mail” mural by Reginald Marsh, 1936 A careful though detached observer, Marsh excelled at representing crowds of New Yorkers, showing lively scenes of both the unemployed and the working class going about their daily activities. Burlesque shows, movie houses, elevated trains, Depression homeless encampments, and places of work all figured prominently in Marsh’s paintings. Often the scenes he depicted were not far from his perch just off Union Square. Marsh also made linocuts, lithographs, drawings, engravings and etchings. His etching ‘Box at the Metropolitan’ was printed on his press at 4 East 12th Street. In his later years Marsh would teach at the Art Students League, where a young Roy Lichtenstein, who would cite him as one of his most prominent influences, was one of his students. Today, Marsh’s murals grace the rotunda of the landmarked U.S. Customs House at 1 Bowling Green, and his work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Brooklyn Museum.

“Four Figures” by Betty Waldo Parish, 1950 The artist Betty Waldo Parish (1910-1986) created an etching called “4 East 12th Street,” the address at which she also lived and had a studio. Born in Germany, Parish is known for her work inspired by the Ashcan School of painters, a group of early 20th century New York City urban realist artists. A student of the Art Students League, Parish worked with Kenneth Hayes Miller, John Sloan, Reginald Marsh, and Eugene Speicher. Additionally, she participated in the Printmaking Project of the Works Progress Administration. Parish’s work is part of the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and many other institutions. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

In 1948, art dealer Lou Pollack opened the Peridot Gallery at 6 East 12th Street, an important platform for abstract expressionist and other avant garde art. Here he exhibited the work of Philip Guston, James Brooks, and Alfred Russell. 6 East 12th Street was just blocks away from the “Tenth Street Galleries” that emerged between Third and Fourth Avenues around the same time. In the 1940s and 1950s, these galleries transformed the area into the epicenter of the New York, and international, art world. Later, the Peridot Gallery moved uptown to Madison Avenue. 6 East 12th Street was later the home of mid-20th century artist-writer Rosemarie Beck in 1966. Beck was part of the second generation of abstract expressionists, but by 1958 she had moved into figuration painting. Throughout her life, Beck wrote extensively in the form of letters, journals, and essays on art. Her work was featured at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Whitney Museum of Art, where her creations are part of the permanent collections. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

From 1957 to 1959, the celebrated “New York School” poet Frank O’Hara lived at 90-92 University Place while he was also a curator of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Frank O'Hara He alluded to his home here in his poem “University Place.” O’Hara chose to live at this location because of its proximity to the Cedar Tavern, and because of University Place’s association at the time with the abstract expressionists. O’Hara was deeply involved with the abstract expressionist community through his work at MoMA and as a writer. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

In the early 20th century, 88 University Place was the home of the prominent art auction house Kaliski and Gabay. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

By 1937, Barney Gallant opened a restaurant in the raised basement level of 86 University Place called “The Royalist.” By the early 1940s, the establishment expanded to the first floor with a cabaret. Gallant, a lifelong bachelor, was an opponent of Prohibition and had gained celebrity as the first person in New York to be prosecuted under the Volstead Act in 1919 for serving alcohol. When police prepared to arrest several of his waiters for serving alcohol, Gallant took full responsibility, refused to comply with the law, and was sent to the Tombs for thirty days. Following this, Gallant opened a series of successful speakeasies and cafes throughout the neighborhood that earned him the name “The Mayor of Greenwich Village.” Originally from Hungary, Gallant was a member of the Liberal Club in the 1910s. The Liberal Club was a social, political, and artistic organization founded as a lecture society in 1912 which ran until 1918. It quickly evolved into a gathering place for free thinkers, especially those with feminist, socialist, anarchist, and bohemian leanings. Throughout its lifetime, the club was known for its experimental theater and political demonstrations. Gallant also worked for a time as the business manager of the Greenwich Village Theater, and was Eugene O’Neill’s first roommate upon his arrival to New York. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The 1894 Romanesque Revival style loft at 84 University Place housed the studio of graphic designer and artist Stanley Glaubach (December 26, 1923 - January 12, 1973) until his death.

“Man of the Year” by Stanley Glaubach, 1972 Throughout his career, Glaubach designed covers and other illustrations for Time, Esquire, and New York magazines, and contributed work to The New York Times. One of his more memorable covers was the 1972 “Man of the Year” image of President Nixon, which appeared in Time magazine. His 1966 Esquire cover of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and President Lyndon B. Johnson earned him an Art Directors Club Award. Additionally, Glaubach executed advertising projects and completed exhibits for corporations, organizations, and television networks, and was known especially for his papier-mache sculpture. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The famous Cedar Tavern was the number one hangout for New York School artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline, just to name a few. They gathered here at least every other night to drink, socialize, and discuss art. In fact, it is often said that it was here that Abstract Expressionism was born and bred. The tavern changed locations several times, but in 1945 it moved to 24 University Place, where it experienced its heyday. Pollock and the like were fond of the Cedar for its cheap drinks (15 cents a beer, to be exact) and its unpretentious location on then off-the-beaten-track University Place. Long after its prime, the Cedar Tavern moved to a now-much-altered building at 82 University Place. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Renowned Egyptologist William C. Hayes lived here until his death in 1963. Hayes started working at the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian Expedition in 1927, then served as Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art before becoming Curator of Egyptian Art. He was the author of many articles and books on Egyptian history, including an exhaustive handbook to the Metropolitan Museum’s collection titled “The Scepter of Egypt,” and chapters for Cambridge Ancient History. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Over the years, the four buildings that comprised the Albert Hotel hosted many of the most prominent names in American arts, literature, music, and radical politics.

Albert Pinkham Ryder, 1905 At the turn of the 20th century, painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, who was the brother of the hotel’s manager, frequented the Albert.

“The Race Track” by Albert Pinkham Ryder, c. 1896-1908 In 1896, he famously based his painting “The Race Track” on one of the hotel waiters who spent all of his money on a losing horse. Novelist Robert Louis Stevenson also stayed at the Hotel St. Stephen (now part of the Albert Hotel complex) in 1887, where he hosted sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens, for whom he posed. Photographer Keith Carter lived in a room in the Albert after graduating from college in 1940. Abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock frequented the hotel’s restaurant throughout the 1940s, which as much as the hotel itself was a gathering place for the leading artists, writers, and musicians of the day. Fellow abstract expressionist painters Bradley Walker Tomlin and Philip Guston stayed here in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Chicago sculptor Steve Urry rented a room at the Albert, around the time a number of people associated with Andy Warhol did as well.

From 1946 until 1968, Joseph Brody, who ran the Albert French Restaurant, exhibited cartoon art he had collected on the restaurant walls. The artists represented here included Bill Steig, Hoff, Ted Key, Larry Reynolds, John Day, and Derso and Kelen. Brody also provided customers with a free tour of Greenwich Village starting in March 1959. The tour was given on a motorized“train” and then a “bus.” Both were called the “Loconik” and designed by artist Salvador Dalí. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

During the 1850s and 1860s, 58 East 13th Street served as the home of the National Academy of Design, the first institution in the United States established by and under the exclusive control of professional artists. Called by architectural historian Christopher Gray “New York’s most powerful art group during the 19th century,” it was founded in 1825 by a group of artists and architects including Samuel F.B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Rembrandt Peale, and Ithiel Town. The National Academy of Design was the very first art school established in New York, and its mission was and remains the promotion of the fine arts in America through exhibition and education.

“Breezing Up” by Winslow Homer, 1873-1876 The Academy was previously located in a series of rented and shared spaces throughout Lower Manhattan, including the nearby 636 Broadway (since demolished) from 1848 to 1854. Around this time Thomas S. Cummings, a long-time member of the Academy who served as its treasurer and later the superintendent of its school, had a studio at the newly-built 58 East 13th Street, a 4-story building located just west of Broadway. Upon his suggestion, the Academy moved here “temporarily,” though it ended up staying for a dozen years, during a crucial period of the organization’s development.

“The Heart of the Andes,” by Frederic Edwin Church, 1859 Throughout this period the Academy’s members included Winslow Homer, James Henry Beard, Frederic Edwin Church, William Parsons Winchester Dana, George Inness, Emanuel Leutze, Jervis McEntee, Victor Nehlig, and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait.

“Merry Old Santa Claus” by Thomas Nast, 1863 The young Thomas Nast (1840-1902), now considered the father of the modern political cartoon, was also a student of the organization during its time at 58 East 13th Street. Nast and his family immigrated to the United States in 1846. He dropped out of school by age 13 and attended the Academy until 1855, when he got his first job as an illustrator at Leslie’s Weekly. At his next job at Harper’s Weekly, he would gain fame for his cartoons criticizing slavery and corruption, most famously of William Magear “Boss” Tweed, which helped lead to the Tammany Hall leader’s downfall. Nast is also responsible for creating the modern image of Santa Claus, which he illustrated for the first time on the cover of Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1863.

“Étretat,” by George Inness, 1875 While located on East 13th Street, the Academy began the practice of holding artists’ receptions, which other organizations soon replicated, which has now become a standard part of artist exhibitions.

National Academy of Design building at East 23rd Street and Park Avenue, c. 1863-1865 The Academy’s success and growth while at this site also allowed it to, for the first time in its existence, build and own its own home at 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue. The now-demolished Venetian Gothic palazzo, designed by architect Peter B. Wight, is considered one of the great landmarks of New York in the 19th century.

National Academy of Design council members at the annual exhibition, 1922 Since the founding of the National Academy of Design, over 2,100 artists and architects have been elected to its membership list, which reads like a who’s-who of the art and architecture world over the last two centuries. Following the departure of the Academy, No. 58 continued to serve as home and studio for many artists throughout the 19th century, as the surrounding neighborhood grew into the epicenter for the 19th century New York art world. Besides Thomas Cummings, painters including John Gott, William Morgan, Fridolin Schegel, and William O. Stone had studios here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The famed abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock spent most of his career in the Village, where he was influenced by the intensity, expanse, and rhythm of the city. He lived and worked in numerous places during his time here, including 240 West 14th Street (his first recorded address in NYC), 46 Carmine Street, 46 East 8th Street, 76 West Houston Street, and 47 Horatio Street. One of his lesser-known homes, when he himself was a still-unknown painter just starting out, was 49 East 10th Street.

“Achelous and Hercules” mural by Thomas Hart Benton, 1947 At the age of 18, Pollock followed his brothers to New York City, and began studying at the Art Students League. In October of 1931, when registering for a mural painting class with Thomas Hart Benton, Pollock listed his address as 49 East 10th Street.

Spectators at the Washington Square Art Show, c. 1950 Around this time, in 1931, Pollock was in desperate need of money, and began to set up his art for sale on a sidewalk near Washington Square Park. Soon he was joined by other Village artists, including Willem de Kooning, Alice Neel, Saul Berman, and Ilya Bolotowski. The informal sidewalk exhibition garnered attention and support, developing into the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, which still occurs twice a year on the weekends surrounding Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Jackson Pollock Following his time on East 10th Street, Pollock worked on the Work Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1942, which gave him the financial security to live and experiment with his art. By 1947, he had developed his iconic “drip style” for what came to be known as his “action paintings.” Using sticks, trowels, or knives, he would drip and splatter the paint, and sometimes he would simply pour the paint directly from the can. Pollock was to become one of the most well-known and influential artists in the abstract expressionist movement, also called the New York School, which was responsible for moving the center of the art world from Europe to New York City, and specifically Greenwich Village.

John Sloan, 1891 In 1934, The Artists and Writers Dinner Club, a Depression-era group that provided nightly dinners to destitute people in the arts, was located at 49 East 10th Street.

“McSorley’s Bar” by John Sloan, 1912 Members of the club included, among many others, artist John Sloan, one of Pollock’s teachers and mentors. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Artist, poet, philanthropist, teacher, writer, and inventor Yun Gee (1906-1963) was the first Chinese-American artist to hold an important position in the history of Western contemporary art. Considered one of the great modernist avant-garde painters, Gee enjoys a number of other “firsts.” He was the first Chinese-born artist invited to join the Société des Artistes Indépendants; the first Chinese artist to display his work internationally; the first Chinese artist to show at MoMa; and the first Chinese artist to show in the salons of Paris. His art made frequent reference to his Chinese heritage either through form, style, or subject matter. He also developed his own signature style, Diamondism, which was derived from Cubism, and he promoted it through his art, writings, and teachings. From 1942 until his death in 1963, Gee lived and worked at 51 East 10th Street. Also in 1942, he married Helen Wimmer, who opened the country’s first commercial gallery focused on photography: Limelight photography gallery at 91 Seventh Avenue South. While living here, Gee taught classes, and wrote about his theory of Diamondism. In 1943, Gee staged an exhibition at the Milch Galleries on West 57th Street to raise funds for the Music Box Canteen. Located at 68 Fifth Avenue, the Music Box Canteen was a celebrated World War II entertainment venue for GIs described at the time as “one of the most famous metropolitan service centers, and…‘a home away from home’ to thousands of servicemen.” This was not Gee’s first exhibit to benefit the allied forces; he had held others, the proceeds of which went to the British and American Ambulance Corps. The following year, in 1944, Gee’s work was showcased in the group exhibition “Portrait of America.” His work completed during his time at 51 East 10th Street includes Wanamaker Fire (1956), Old Broadway in Winter (1943-44), and Nude in Studio (1952). Gee was also an inventor who designed a four-dimensional chess game. He received a patent in 1950 for a tongue and lip holding device “for aiding correct English speech.” There was even a report by a few periodicals from the time of his plans started in 1946 for a project of a tunnel to the moon which apparently he started in his own backyard in 1949. The projected cost was $9,000,000, and as reported in 1949, he had not gotten any financial backers to that date. In 1963, Gee passed away and as reported by The Daily News in 1964, Velma Aydelott, his companion in the last part of his life (he and Wimmer divorced in 1947) was acting as caretaker of his art in their Greenwich Village apartment. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Originally built c. 1870 as a residence, 32 East 10th Street was altered for manufacturing usage in 1898. By the mid-1950s, as the surrounding neighborhood transformed into the center of the art world, no. 32 became the home and studio of abstract expressionist painter Franz Kline. Kline lived here from 1953 to 1957, during which time he produced some of his most noteworthy works. After holding his first one-man show at the Egan Gallery in New York in 1950, in 1954 Kline showcased a one-man show of large paintings at the Institute of Design in Chicago. That same year nine of his paintings were included in the Twelve Americans show at the Museum of Modern Art.

Franz Kline, 1960 Franz Kline (1910-1962) was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and moved to New York City in 1938. He started his artistic career as a realist painter, but after meeting Willem de Kooning his style evolved into abstract expressionism. Kline was especially known for his black and white abstractions using house paint, and his style of painting came to be known as what art critic Harold Rosenberg referred to as “action painting.” Later in the 1950s, while living at 32 East 10th Street, Kline began to employ color, as demonstrated in Orange Outline (1955).

“Painting Number 2” by Franz Kline, 1954 One of the key figures in the abstract expressionist movement, Kline was a founding member of “the Club,” an extremely influential collective of New York School painters organized in 1949 and located at 39 East 8th Street, two blocks south of his home. He was also very connected to the 10th Street Gallery Scene, located just east. Like many of the abstract expressionist painters of this period, Kline was also a regular at the nearby Cedar Tavern, located around the corner at 24 University Place near East 9th Street. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Architectural renderer Hugh Ferriss lived at 33-45 East 9th Street until his death in 1962. According to Carol Willis, Executive Director of the Skyscraper Museum, “Ferriss was the master draftsman of his time of the American metropolis, both real and ideal.” Over the course of his career, Ferriss rendered hundreds of buildings and projects around the country, but it was his visions for the ideal city, particularly as illustrated in his book The Metropolis of Tomorrow, that would earn him his fame and legacy, which still resonates today.

"Drawing, Study for Maximum Mass Permitted by the 1916 New York Zoning Law" by Hugh Ferriss, 1922 Born on July 12, 1889, Ferriss earned his degree in architecture from Washington University (MO) in 1911. The following year, he moved to New York and worked for Cass Gilbert as a draftsman until 1915, when he set out on his own and worked as a freelance delineator (an artist who creates renderings of other architects designs usually for promotional or planning purposes). Initially his commissions were for illustrations and advertisements in magazines, but by the early 1920’s he was working with architects such as Raymond Hood He developed a unique style employing chiaroscuro, a treatment of light and shadow, with the light falling unevenly or from a particular direction, to create his depictions of buildings and streetscapes. In 1922, working in collaboration with architect Harvey Wiley Corbett (who, perhaps not coincidentally, was also one of the architects of the Greenwich Village building Ferriss lived in until his death in 1962), Ferriss created a massing study in response to, and as an explanation of, the relatively new 1916 zoning law of New York City. The 1916 Zoning Ordinance, the first of its kind in the United States, regulated building use, area, and height of new buildings. It imposed height and setback limits and distinguished between residential and industrial districts. The Hugh Ferriss drawings of 1922, known as “The Four Stages” or “Evolution of the Set-back Building,” are perhaps the most iconic and influential architectural images of the 1920s. “Widely exhibited and published, they inspired other architects to understand the rules of New York’s 1916 zoning law not as a restriction, but as a form-giving principle for a new, modern skyscraper,” Willis states. As Ferriss explained in his article “The New Architecture,” published in The New York Times in 1922 along with his renderings: “It should be mentioned that the new laws do not prohibit the erection of tall buildings as has been assumed in some quarters…The result (of the zoning ordinance) will be that towers will rise from the center of the masses that they dominate. Terrific verticals will no longer spring from nothing but a sidewalk. The result will be altitude poised and unified. Summits will have the composition of mountain ranges.”

Hugh Ferriss, c. 1925 In 1929 Ferriss published his masterpiece, The Metropolis of Tomorrow, which included some of his finest drawings from the 1920’s, as well as new work. It is composed of three sections, titled Cities of Today, Projected Trends, and An Imaginary Metropolis, the latter showcasing his new drawings and visions for an urban utopia. In his text he bemoaned the lack of planning in the contemporary city, and called for architects to maintain human values in the face of unbridled urban growth for capitalistic gain. During the mid-20th century, Ferriss’ practice and stature continued to grow. He often served as official delineator and consultant on large projects, including the 1939 New York World’s Fair and the United Nations Headquarters. Additionally, he published another book in 1953, Power in Buildings, with more renderings of cities, buildings and other structures from around the country. He was the President of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Architectural League. On January 29, 1962 Ferriss passed away at his home at 33-45 East 9th Street. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

827-831 Broadway From 1958 to 1964, leading abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning lived in a loft on the top floor of 831 Broadway, during one of his most creative periods. He remained at this address until he decamped from New York City entirely for East Hampton.

Willem de Kooning in his studio at 831 Broadway, March 23, 1962. Photo © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah It was while living here that de Kooning became an American citizen, and painted “Rosy-Fingered Dawn at Louse Point,” the first of his paintings acquired by a European museum, and “Door to the River,” which is now at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Willem de Kooning in his studio at 831 Broadway, March 23, 1962. Photo © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah It was also here, in 1962, where he was photographed by noted portraitist Dan Budnik. That image, “Willem de Kooning, 831 Broadway, New York,” is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. De Kooning and his fellow abstract expressionists shifted the center of the art world from New York to Paris after World War II, and much of that artistic ferment took place in and around 827-831 Broadway.

“John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1963” by Elaine de Kooning Elaine de Kooning, artist, teacher and chronicler of the American art scene, also had a studio on the third floor of no. 827. She was working here on a commission of John F. Kennedy’s official portrait for the Truman Library when he was killed in November 1963. In later years, the noted abstract expressionist painters Larry Poons and Paul Jenkins lived and worked in studios in these buildings. Jenkins moved into the building in 1963 and here painted his celebrated work “Phenomena 831 Broadway.”

Rolling Thunder Revue poster, 1975 William S. Rubin also resided at no. 831 in the late 1960s until 1974 when Larry and Paula Poons took over his loft. Rubin, Director of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA from 1973-1988, is credited with playing “a crucial role in defining the museum’s character, collections and exhibitions in the 1970s and 1980s,” according to the New York Times. His loft, which he hired the young architect Richard Meier to redesign, served as a showcase for his own considerable collection, as well as a meeting place for artists. During the Poons’ long residence at no. 831, the space continued to be used as a gathering place for artists, especially during the ’70s and ’80s. Their long-time friend and Bob Dylan’s former road manager, Bob Neuwirth, held tryouts in their loft for the Dylan 1975-76 “Rolling Thunder Review” tour in the loft.

Patti Smith performing, 1978 That night, Patti Smith and T-Bone Burnett were in attendance.

Paula Poons, 2017 Listen to Paula Poons’ Oral History here.

“Voyage” by Jules Olitski, 1962 Abstract expressionist artist Jules Olitski (1922-2007) also made his home at 827 Broadway during the 1970s. Olitski was one of the leaders of the Color Field school of painting, an offshoot of abstract expressionism. This technique involved the color staining of canvases, rejecting brushwork popular with other abstract expressionists. During his lifetime, Olitski exhibited widely, including 150 one-man shows. In 1969 he became the third artist in history to have a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

St. Denis Hotel (now demolished), 2014 Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 - October 2, 1968), considered the progenitor of conceptual art, was a crucial influence in the development of surrealism, Dada, and pop art. Born in France and trained as a painter in Paris, he moved to 210 West 14th Street in 1942, later moving to 28 West 10th Street. Greenwich Village was a perfect match for Duchamp’s anti-authority stance and eclectic persona, but the neighborhood’s creative vibe was not his main reason for moving here. Duchamp wanted to be near the famed Marshall Chess Club, located at 23 West 10th Street. Duchamp had a lifelong passion for chess, even giving up his art career from 1926 to 1934 to play competitively, and traveling to places like Buenos Aires throughout his life to devote time to his other passion.

Marcel Duchamp, 1927 Later, Duchamp lived and maintained a studio at the former St. Denis Hotel at 799 Broadway, once one of the most elegant and desirable hotels in the country. Here, Duchamp worked on his final artwork until he died in 1968. The piece, called “Étant donnés,” was an elaborately detailed and beautifully disturbing room-encompassing tableau, which could be peered at through two peepholes upon entering the room.

“Étant donnés” by Marcel Duchamp, c. 1948-1968 Duchamp had labored over “Étant donnés” secretly for over twenty years. After his death, the art world was stunned to find the artwork hidden in his home, and in 2014, Serkan Ozkaya built a scale model of the project, discovering that it resembled a face.

In late 2018, after plans were announced to demolish the historic building to make way for another tech-related development, Village Preservation staged a protest outside the building attended by hundreds of local residents. Nevertheless the city refused to act, and in 2019 the building was demolished, with the new office tower replacing it. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of extant historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

In the 1880s, Beer Brothers Fine Gold and Bronze Picture Frames was located here, which in its advertisements claimed “many of our frames are on the most important paintings in public and private galleries throughout the United States.” This was not mere hyperbole. In addition to framing, they renovated paintings, bought and sold paintings, and held painting exhibitions. At the time of his death in 1914, The New York Times said that Samuel A. Beers was "widely known as a renovator of the old masters and had done considerable work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as for private collectors." Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Renowned Hudson River School and Luminist painter David Johnson (May 10, 1827 – January 30, 1908) had his studio at 812 Broadway in the mid-19th century at the height of his career.

“Bayside, New Rochelle, New York” by David Johnson, 1886 That building was demolished and replaced with the existing building. His studio was just around the corner from the National Academy of Design where he was educated and became a member. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of extant historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The American Book Company, formerly located at 806-808 Broadway, employed noteworthy artists and illustrators.

Norman Rockwell, 1921 These artists included Norman Rockwell and Frederick Remington.

“Saying Grace” by Norman Rockwell, 1951 In fact, Rockwell’s first published assignment was for the American Book Company: illustrations for Fanny Eliza Coe’s history book Founders of Our Country (1912). Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The Hansa Gallery, one of the “East 10th Street Galleries,” was located at 70 East 12th Street (now demolished).

Wolf Kahn, 2014 Painter Wolf Kahn was one of the former Hans Hofmann students to start this cooperative gallery. Listen to Wolf Kahn’s Oral History here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of extant historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Renowned artist and lithographer Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was located here from around 1881 until 1883. A painter by training, Thomas began his career around 1860, operating a printing press called Crow, Thomas & Eno Lithographer Company, specializing in the chromolithographic printing of district maps, prints relating to American history, playing cards, administrative documents, product labels, and show posters.

"L’Éclair: Journal Politique Indépendant" by Henry Atwell Thomas Around 1873, he opened his own studio, producing portraits of many of the most prominent actors and artists in New York. In 1886, the American Academy of Music made him its official portrait illustrator. In the 1890s, Thomas changed his company name to HA Thomas & Wylie Lithographer Co, and in 1897 he won a poster competition from among 500 entrants organized by the Belgian newspaper L'Éclair. During the Art Nouveau era, Thomas printed the works of many designers such as Maxfield Parrish and Ernest Haskell.

"The New York Evening Call" issue, 1908 Robert Berkeley "Bob" Minor (1884 – 1952), also known as "Fighting Bob," was a political cartoonist, a radical journalist, and a leading member of the American Communist Party. He became the highest paid cartoonist in America, but left that lucrative work to join left-wing publications and causes, including The New York Call newspaper, which was located here. He eventually ran for multiple political offices in New York and in other parts of the country. Minor attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris to hone his craft as an artist. Upon his return to the United States in 1914, Minor, already an ardent leftist, began to make a series of provocative cartoons for the New York World attacking both sides of the European conflict for their imperialism. As the World’s editorial policy shifted towards support for the allied side in the war, Minor was pressured to change the content of his cartoons. He refused, and left the World for The New York Call. He also began contributing anti-war cartoons to Max Eastman's The Masses. Minor's cartoons would later provide a basis for the United States government's prosecution of The Masses for violation of the Espionage Act of 1917, eventually leading to the demise of the magazine. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The photographer Aaron Siskind (December 4, 1903 – February 8, 1991) lived and had a studio here beginning in the 1930s, above the famed Corner Book Shop. He was closely associated with the abstract expressionist and New York School of writers, who were centered in this area in the post-World War II period, especially his close friends Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline, with whom he also showed at the Charles Egan Gallery.

Aaron Siskind A native of the Lower East Side, Siskind graduated from City College in 1926 and taught in New York’s public school system between 1926 and 1949. He first rose to prominence in the 1930s as a member of the socially-conscious New York Photo League, for which he created his celebrated photo series Harlem Document, “one of the most important visual records of Harlem during the Great Depression.”, which contained many photos not published until 1981. Harlem Document was a moving series of portraits as well as scenes of street and home life in Harlem from 1932-1940. Part of a larger project initiated by the Photo League to examine urban neighborhoods, it was funded in part by the Federal Writers Project and included textual documentation of the community and its subjects as well. This was quickly followed by Siskind’s series “The Most Crowded Block in the World” which also focused on African American life and subjects in New York. These two projects collectively provide one of the most extensive and insightful documentations of African American life in New York and specifically in Harlem during this time. In 1936, Siskind founded the League’s Feature Group, which documented New York City, focusing especially on Harlem. Siskind’s other work for the League included projects “The Catholic Worker Movement” and “Dead End: The Bowery.”

Photo by Aaron Siskind, 1948 By World War II Siskind left the League, which disbanded, and moved from a social realist to a more abstract style, wherein his work focused on the details of things, presented as flat surfaces creating a new image independent of the original subject. “For the first time in my life subject matter, as such, had ceased to be of primary importance,” Siskind explained. “Instead I found myself involved in the relationship of these objects, so much so that the pictures turned out to be deeply moving and personal experiences.” His elimination of pictorial space and his concentration on the arrangement of objects within the picture plane were seen by the Abstract Expressionists as a kindred approach to visual representation. Siskind also developed a close association with the artist Robert Rauschenberg, whose studio was located just a few blocks south in Lafayette Street. Siskind taught at Chicago's Institute of Design and the Illinois Institute of Technology as well as the Rhode Island School of Design, and worked and photographed around the world. Siskind was also a founding member of the Society for Photographic Education in 1963. According to the International Center of Photography, “Siskind's abstract photographs from the late 1940s and early 1950s were a major force in the development of avant-garde art in America. In rejecting the third dimension, this work belied the notion that photography was tied exclusively to representation. As such, Siskind's work served as an invaluable link between the American documentary movement of the 1930s and the more introspective photography that emerged in the 1950s and 60s.” Art critic Grace Glueck went even further, saying of Siskind’s work “\[it] crossed the line between photography and painting...\[t]hey influenced today’s recognition of photography as an art equal to that made with brush and canvas.” Siskind’s works are found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., among others. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

101-111 Fourth Avenue housed the Dorsky Gallery in the 1970s. Artists shown here included Richard Hunt, William Crutchfield, Richard Lindner, Nathan Oliveira, and Henry Moore. Michael Gallagher opened the Art & Fashion Gallery, focusing on rare books, fashion, and photography, at this address in September 2003. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), one of the most noteworthy figures of the Abstract Expressionist movement and ‘New York School’ of artists, had a studio at 61 Fourth Avenue during a critical period of his career, between 1949 and 1952. Along with other members of the New York School such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Philip Guston, Motherwell is considered one of the great American Abstract Expressionist painters. Credited by The American Art Book as being the most articulate of this group, Motherwell became the theorist and leading spokesperson of the New York School. He did so through lectures, teachings, and writings, all the while maintaining his own productive output of paintings, collages, and prints. Motherwell also fostered relationships with European Surrealists and other intellectuals, serving as a bridge between the pre-war avant-garde movement in Europe and the post-war Abstract Expressionist movement in New York. He established automatism and psychoanalysis as the focus of American abstraction. In 1991, art critic Clement Greenberg said of Motherwell: “in my opinion he was one of the very best of the Abstract Expressionist painters.”

“Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110” by Robert Motherwell, 1971 In 1948-49, during the time that Motherwell occupied his studio at 61 Fourth Avenue, he began his lengthy series of paintings, Elegies to the Spanish Republic, which memorialized the lost Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. This homage to the victims of this war, and all wars, would be the theme of his works for decades to come, and consists of over 200 variants of black forms on white backgrounds. He insisted that these paintings were not political, but rather his intent was to ensure that those who lost their lives were not forgotten. During his time at 61 Fourth Avenue, his works included At Five in the Afternoon (1948-49), The Voyage (1948-49), Madrid (1950), Wall of the Temple (1951), and Wall of the Temple III (1952). In 1950, Motherwell worked with the Architects’ Collaborative led by Walter Gropius, and exhibited a maquette for a sixty-foot-long mural for a junior high school in Attleboro, Massachusetts called Mural Fragment. Motherwell also started ‘the Robert Motherwell School of Fine Art Painting, Drawing, Theory’ at 61 Fourth Avenue in the autumn of 1949.

"LOVE" stamp issued in 1973, designed by Robert Indiana Robert Indiana (b. September 13, 1928), a preeminent figure in American assemblage art, hard-edge painting, and Pop art, moved into his studio at 61 Fourth Avenue in 1955. He had arrived in New York City about a year before. The artist grew up in Indiana, studying at the Arsenal Technical High School, and then served in the U.S. Air Force for three years. After that, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in Maine, and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. While at his studio on Fourth Avenue, Indiana claims that he could see into Willem de Kooning’s studio at 88 East 10th Street and watch him paint. Nevertheless, according to Susan Elizabeth Ryan’s book Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech, Indiana felt he did not fit in with the abstract expressionist crowd, especially as a relative newcomer and a gay man. Indiana avoided the Cedar Tavern and later stated that one night at the famous artist club at 39 East 8th Street “was enough.” Throughout his time on Fourth Avenue, much of Indiana’s work was dark, allegorical, and expressionist, largely due to the influence of the artist Jean Dubuffet. In 1956, Indiana met Ellsworth Kelly, who encouraged him to move to Coenties Slip, where he became a part of the robust community of artists including Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, and Jack Youngerman.

Allan Kaprow, 1973 Three years later, in the fall of 1959, Anita Reuben and her husband Max Baker opened the Reuben Gallery at 61 Fourth Avenue, hoping to continue the legacy of the Hansa Gallery, which had closed that year. The Hansa, one of the original artist-run cooperative “Tenth Street Galleries,” was co-founded by artists including Allan Kaprow and George Segal, both of whom participated in the opening of the Reuben. The Reuben Gallery was considered an informal space where artists could be flexible and free to execute their projects, and thus played a formative role in the development of avant-garde art. The Art Bulletin in 2004 recalled the makeshift character of the space: “The Reuben Gallery…was a third-floor walk-up in a small, aging building. Not only the ceilings but even the walls on which the art was hung were made of stamped metal, a hallmark of New York prewar construction. With an awkwardly exposed utility meter plainly visible in the room and even an old heating stove, the space would have registered as an antiquated antonym to the development of the neighborhood.” In Sally Banes' book Greenwich Village 1963: Avant-garde Performance and the Effervescent Body, the Reuben Gallery is described as "a lively center for downtown art, especially as a crucible for Happenings." Allan Kaprow's first public 'Happening,' 18 Happenings in 6 Parts, was performed at the Reuben in 1959. The book Happenings: New York, 1958-1963, prepared in conjunction with an exhibit for Pace Gallery and including photographs by Robert McElroy, emphasizes the significance of Kaprow’s piece: “This unique conjunction of visual, aural, and physical evens, performed for an intimate art world audience by \[Kaprow’s] friends and colleagues, would change the course of art history. The new genre of artwork that evolved from this debut would become known as ‘Happenings.’”

Jim Dine, another pioneer of the Happenings movement and a key player in the development of Pop Art, had his first solo show at the Reuben Gallery in 1960. Claes Oldenburg, yet another Happenings sculptor and Pop Art leader, also showcased his installation The Street at the Reuben Gallery in 1960. Banes' book quotes Oldenburg as saying that the Reuben Gallery was the place where he made his first meaningful contact with Allan Kaprow. Operating on Fourth Avenue until 1961, the Reuben Gallery later moved to 44 East 3rd Street.

Barney Rosset Grove Press, called “the era’s most explosive and influential publishing house” and “the most innovative publisher of the postwar era,” produced incredibly important pieces of 20th century literature while working aggressively and effectively to transform American culture in relation to issues of censorship, sexuality, race, and class. Founded in 1947 on Grove Street in the West Village, Grove Press fully rose to prominence after it was purchased by Barney Rossett in 1951. Over the next decades, an astonishing five extant buildings in the area south of Union Square were home to the Press, its literary magazine Evergreen Review, and the Press’ Evergreen Theater. A sixth building in the area, 61 Fourth Avenue, served as Rosset’s home from at least 1981 until Rosset’s passing in 2012. For a time, Grove Press’ offices were also located here.

"Evergreen Review" issue Rosset’s affiliation with Grove Press ended shortly after he came to 61 Fourth Avenue. However, his role as cultural instigator continued. He revived the Evergreen Review as an online publication in 1998, and worked on several documentaries and films about his life and accomplishments while living here. These included Rosset: My Life in Publishing and How I Fought Censorship and the film Obscene. Rosset also began and created a decades-long art project at 61 Fourth Avenue: a 12 feet high and 22 feet long mural which became the consuming passion of his life. As described by Bedford+Bowery, “Rosset would stay up all night working on the mural, often painting for four hours at a time without taking a break to eat or drink or do anything but focus on his the wall. It was never finished — he would repaint it over and over, using different colors until eventually it became a completely different painting.” The mural eventually became the subject of its own documentary, Barney’s Wall. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Photographer Harris Fogel’s “110 East 13th Street, New York City, 1986, from the 6 x 6 Portfolio” is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The image, taken from a low angle, shows the bare back of a figure whose face is obscured. A scholar, gallerist, curator, and journalist, Fogel has held a number of prominent positions in the arts and organized over 275 photography exhibitions. From 1997 until 2018, he acted as director and curator of the Sol Mednick Gallery and Gallery 1401, the latter of which he founded. His work is found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

From 1978 until 2005, the former Van Tassell & Kearney auction mart at 126-128 East 13th Street became the studio of painter, printmaker, and sculptor Frank Stella. One of the 20th century’s most notable and influential artists, Stella occupied the building until 2005. During these years, the artist transitioned from abstractionism and minimalism to large “shaped” canvases and three-dimensional work. In 1987, the second major survey of the artist’s work was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art.

“Cones and Pillars, part 2” by Frank Stella, c. 1984 Along with artist Earl Childress, Stella was responsible for cleaning and restoring the facade of 126-128 East 13th Street in 1981. Afterwards, Childress became a member of Stella’s studio and participated in several of Stella’s sculptural and architectural projects. The building was designated an individual New York City landmark on May 15, 2012. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Lithographer R. Teller was located at 136 East 13th Street, now combined with 134 East 13th Street, in the late 19th century. Teller’s work, which largely includes illustrated piano sheet music, is now held at the Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection of the Johns Hopkins Libraries & Museums, the NYPL Digital Collections, UC Berkeley, and the Smithsonian. The presence of R. Teller here is emblematic of the neighborhood’s history as a hub of art and piano manufacturing. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

84 East 10th Street housed Tribal Arts Gallery for many years and was part of the 10th Street gallery scene. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Until 2016, 62 Third Avenue housed New York Central Art Supply, a family-run business for over a century. Opened in 1905 as an “odd lot” store by Benjamin Steinberg, family legend has it that a stock of art supplies that sold well helped turn the business into a store specifically for art supplies. By the 1940s, New York Central was selling only art supplies with Benjamin’s son Harold at the helm. It was named after the New York Central railroad, for which Steinberg had an affinity. Known as one of the most well-stocked stores in the art supply business with one of the most knowledgeable staffs, New York Central Art Supply’s customers included Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Franz Kline, Frank Stella, Kiki Smith, and Jamie Wyeth. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

According to the 1910 census, German American illustrator Paul Stahr lived at 60 Third Avenue with his wife Edith and her family. Stahr was educated at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League, and began his illustrating career with People’s Home Journal. He went on to work for Life, Collier’s Weekly, American Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, The Saturday Evening Post, and the Women’s Home Companion.

World War I poster by Paul Stahr, c. 1918 He also created posters for the Red Cross, Liberty Loans, and the National Defense. For ten years beginning in 1924, Stahr produced pulp cover magazines for Argosy Magazine. He also painted book covers, including The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Brothers John and Nicholas Krushenick opened the Brata Gallery at 89 East 10th Street (now demolished) in 1957. One of many artist-run cooperative “Tenth Street Galleries” in the neighborhood, the Brata Gallery showcased work by a diverse group of artists, including African-American painter Ed Clark and the Japanese-American artists Robert Kobayashi and Nanae Momiyama. Yayoi Kusama had a solo show here in 1959, which is credited with launching her career. Artists Ronald Bladen, Ed Clarke, Al Held, and George Sugarman all displayed at the Brata Gallery as well.

Jonas Mekas, undated By 1963, the gallery had moved to 56 Third Avenue, where it participated in the growing underground film scene. That year, avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas organized and wrote about screenings that took place here, programmed by his Film-Makers’ Co-op. The Brata Gallery stayed at this address until at least 1974. Listen to Jonas Mekas’ Oral History here.

Bust of Paul Johannes Tillich by James Rosati Sculptor James Rosati was also listed at this address in 1964 and 1970. Rosati worked as a sculptor for the Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s, and later taught at Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, and Yale University. He was especially well known for his Cubist-inspired monumental sculptures, which decorated museum gardens and corporate plazas and lobbies. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

The March Gallery opened at 48 Third Avenue in March, 1957 and stayed here until 1960. This was one of the “Tenth Street Galleries” that filled the short block between Third and Fourth Avenues. In the 1940s and 1950s, these galleries transformed the area into the epicenter of the New York, American, and international art world.

Elaine de Kooning, 1980 Artists Boris Lurie, Sam Goodman, and Stanley Fisher co-founded the NO!art movement, a radical avant-garde anti-art-establishment movement, with exhibitions at the March Gallery. The controversial movement called for socially and politically involved art that resisted and combated the forces of the market. It opposed the trend of the commercialization of art, including popular movements of the era including abstract expressionism and Pop Art. Lurie also often related his work to his experiences as a Holocaust survivor.

“Portrait of Fairfield Porter” by Elaine de Kooning, 1953 Elaine de Kooning was another member of this and other small, emerging downtown galleries. As a woman artist in the male-dominated New York School, many of the better-established uptown gallery owners were ambivalent about her work. However, in the downtown scene, her paintings were deeply appreciated, and her membership contributed to the rise of the galleries of which she was a part. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Elizabeth Olds, 1937. Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection, circa 1920-1965. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Elizabeth Olds was an American artist known for her work in developing silkscreen as a fine arts medium. From the late 1930s to the late 1950s, Olds’ studio was located at 53 East 11th Street. She was a painter, illustrator, and printmaker who was skilled in silkscreen, woodcut, and lithography processes. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Olds was awarded a scholarship to study at the Art Students League under George Luks, a founder of the Ashcan School. Elizabeth Olds was the first woman to be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and she used the funds from the fellowship to study painting. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Elizabeth Olds, Miner Joe, 1937, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from D.C. Public Library When Olds returned to the United States in 1929, the Great Depression was just beginning, and the political events of those years would shape her artistic practice forever. She began working with the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project in Omaha, Nebraska around 1935. Through her work with the WPA-FAP, she trained younger artists on silkscreen techniques and successfully elevated the practice of silkscreen to fine art with her award-winning print Miner Joe (1937). Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Elizabeth Olds, Picasso Study Club, 1940. Screenprint. Later in her career, Elizabeth Olds was awarded artist-in-residence fellowships at the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo Artist Retreat. There is no question that the neighborhood South of Union Square’s connection to labor and leftist politics made an indelible mark on Elizabeth Olds’ artistic practice. By renting a studio in this neighborhood, she was able to create a community of like-minded artists and become involved in some of the most consequential leftist organizations of the 20th century. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Mabel Dwight, Self-Portrait, 1932, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum Mabel Dwight was an American artist known for the compassionate satire she captured in her lithographs. Born in Cincinnati and raised in New Orleans, Dwight moved to San Francisco with her family by 1890 to study painting at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. While there she became an ardent leftist and socialist, which she remained throughout her life. After a number of years traveling through Egypt, Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia, she settled in Greenwich Village with her family in 1903. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Mabel Dwight, Queer Fish, 1936, lithograph, 10 5/8 x 13 inches. It wasn’t until 1926 that Dwight took up lithography. In 1938, she rented a studio at 55 East 10th Street, a 1929 fifteen-story Gothic Revival former apartment hotel designed by Victor Farrar, now a dorm owned by NYU in Village Preservation’s proposed South of Union Square Historic District. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Mabel Dwight, Merchants of Death, 1935 Dwight, who was deaf, was a keen observer of the nuances of human expression and comedy. She believed that artists should treat subjects “with sympathy and translate them into art just as tragic and humorous as he may wish.” This ethos allowed Dwight to approach the complex political subjects of the Great Depression such as homelessness, poverty, and corporate greed with sophistication and sensitivity, instead of as a voyeur. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

Mabel Dwight, Buried Treasure, 1935/42, published by the Works Progress Administration Dwight created a number of works for the Work Progress Administration from 1934-1939. Her work was included in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, and Prints in 1933. Today, her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.