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Whitney Museum of American Art (original building)

Coordinates: 40°43′59″N 73°59′54″W / 40.73295°N 73.998306°W / 40.73295; -73.998306
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40°43′59″N 73°59′54″W / 40.73295°N 73.998306°W / 40.73295; -73.998306

Whitney Museum of American Art
(original building); currently New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
(2011)
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building) is located in Manhattan
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building)
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building) is located in New York
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building)
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building) is located in the United States
Whitney Museum of American Art (original building)
Location8–12 West 8th Street
Manhattan, New York City[1][2]
Built1838 (original buildings)
1931 (remodeled into gallery and residence)
1936 (remodeled into museum)[3][4]
ArchitectAuguste L. Noel of Noel & Miller (1931 and 1936)[1]
Architectural styleNeoclassical
NRHP reference No.92001877
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 27, 1992[5]
Designated NHLApril 27, 1992 [6]

The Whitney Museum of American Art's original building is a collection of three 1838 rowhouses at 8–12 West 8th Street, between Fifth Avenue and MacDougal Street, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. In 1907, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney established the Whitney Studio Gallery at 8 West 8th Street adjacent to her own MacDougal Alley studio. This, and the later Whitney Studio Club at 147 West 4th Street, were intended to provide young artists with places to meet and exhibit their works.[1][7][8]

Stained glass window (and sketch) by Robert Winthrop Chanler, originally in the Whitney Studio

In 1918, American artist and friend Robert Winthrop Chanler was commissioned to redesign the interior of the 8th Street property, adding an allegorical bas-relief ceiling, a 20-foot-high plaster and bronze fireplace, elaborate stained glass windows, and decorative screens.[9][10][11]

In 1929, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art rejected Whitney's offer of the gift of nearly 500 new artworks that she had collected, Whitney established the Whitney Museum of American Art.[12] In 1931, she had architect Auguste L. Noel of the firm of Noel & Miller convert the three row houses at 8–12 West 8th Street into a gallery and residence for herself, and the museum's first home.[1][3] The museum opened November 18, 1931.[13][14] The Whitney bought 12 and 14 West 8th Street in 1943.[15]

In the 1940s, there were failed plans to incorporate the collections of the Whitney into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the latter's 75th anniversary.[16] In 1954, the museum moved uptown to new quarters on 54th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, before eventually settling in 1966 at 945 Madison Avenue.[17] The old building – with the addition of 14 West 8th Street, an Italianate house built in 1853–54[3] – became the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.[1]

The building is located within the Greenwich Village Historic District, established in 1969 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[6][9][18] Listed on the World Monuments Fund's 2012 Watch list,[12] it has been the focus of an extensive restoration project on the part of the University of Pennsylvania's Architectural Conservation Laboratory, in collaboration with the fund.[11]

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These photographs, from a 1937 museum publication, show the museum as it was at the time:[19]

  • Sculpture gallery
    Sculpture gallery
  • Staircase
    Staircase
  • Painting gallery
    Painting gallery
  • Doorway, circa 1937
    Doorway, circa 1937

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  2. ^ Harris, Bill; One Thousand New York Buildings, 1st Edition; Black Dog and Leventhal. 2002. ISBN 1-57912-443-7; p.135.
  3. ^ a b c New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Greenwich Village Historic District Designation Report v.1 (April 1969) p.151
  4. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 17, 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012.
  7. ^ Whitney Museum of American Art (1937). Whitney Museum of American Art: history, purpose and activities, with a complete list of works in its permanent collection to June, 1937. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. p. 3. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Wolf, Justin. "The Whitney Museum of American Art". The Art Story. The Art Story Foundation. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "A National Treasure, the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio". Senior Women Web. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  10. ^ "Whitney Studio Ceiling". Architectural Conservation Laboratory (ACL) of the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Matero, Frank; Drapala, Lauren. "THE WHITNEY STUDIO CEILING: Examination, Analysis and Recommendation for Conservation" (PDF). Architectural Conservation Laboratory. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "29: New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture". Places where women made history. National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  13. ^ "Whitney Museum Visited By 4,000 on First Day: Crowd Gathers in 8th St. an Hour Before Doors Open". New York Herald Tribune. November 19, 1931. p. 23. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1114149220.
  14. ^ "3,600 Visit Whitney Museum". The New York Times. November 19, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  15. ^ "Two Parcels Bought by Whitney Museum; Art Collection Gets Houses It Occupies in Eighth St". The New York Times. January 8, 1943. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  16. ^ "Finding aid for the Metropolitan Museum of Art 75th Anniversary Committee records, 1945–1950", Metropolitan Museum of Art
  17. ^ Stern, Robert A. M.; Mellins, Thomas; Fishman, David (1995). New York 1960: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Second World War and the Bicentennial. New York: Monacelli Press. pp. 824, 826. ISBN 1-885254-02-4. OCLC 32159240. OL 1130718M.
  18. ^ Berman, Avis (December 2, 1991). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Whitney Museum of American Art / New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 26 photos, exterior and interior, from 1906–1991 (10.1 MB)
  19. ^ Whitney Museum of American Art: history, purpose and activities, with a complete list of works in its permanent collection to June, 1937 New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937. Copyright not renewed.
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