To learn more about the architecture of The Lenox Library and of the New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC)’s Frick Art Reference Library, look for the tours given by the Frick every year for Open House New York (OHNY) Weekend.Įliza Goodpasture, Intern, Frick Art Reference Library The Lenox Library helped pave the way for future cultural institutions by becoming a part of the founding collection of the New York Public Library as well as conceding its plot of land to what would eventually turn into The Frick Collection. Aside from the burgeoning institutions of the National Academy of Design and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Yorkers had few places to view fine art in their city. The Lenox Library was not only one of the first public libraries in New York, but it was also one of the first public art exhibition spaces. A large scale painting by Minhály Munkácsy (1844–1900) was added to the collection in 1879 and was greeted with much acclaim (Strahan, 8). Highlights included works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Gilbert Stuart (1775–1828), Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), and Thomas Cole (1801–1848) ( Lenox Library: A Guide to the Paintings and Sculpture). His art collection was described as “decidedly solid rather than brilliant,” an opinion that seems consistent across criticism in the past and today ( Saule, 319). The works were not arranged according to artist or genre but rather according to the taste of Lenox. In the art galleries, visitors reported that the “individuality of the collector” was quite apparent in the collection and arrangement of the pictures ( Strahan, 8). Its display suggests that the finest books in the library’s collections were exhibited in its reading rooms and meant to be admired as much as to be used for research. This bible was the first of its kind to enter the New World and was perhaps the greatest treasure of the library. The building continued up for another half floor, with a balcony gallery running along the entire length of the courtyard (“The Lenox Library,” American Architect).Įarly reviews of the library recount that after entering the south wing reading room on the first floor, the initial thing visitors saw was the Gutenberg Bible in a rosewood case (“ Biblia in the Lenox Collection”). Repeating the first floor layout, a reading room was located to the south, and a gallery was located to the north. It featured large windows that overlooked Central Park and contained five arcades, paintings and sculptures were placed throughout the space. On the second floor, the main gallery ran parallel to the street. To the south was a reading room, and to the north was a gallery. Through the courtyard, visitors entered a large vestibule with two majestic staircases. The first floor rooms had twenty-four foot ceilings, and the second floor rooms had forty-foot ceilings-creating incredibly lofty and grand spaces (“ The Lenox Library,” American Architect). A central courtyard faced Fifth Avenue, flanked by two wings. The building spanned the length of the city block it occupied. Some visitors felt that the façade was too severe, but others loved its grandeur and stateliness (Stern, 200). It was designed in the Neo-Grec style, though critics also considered it modern classic-citing the French influence of Hunt’s École des Beaux Arts education. The Lenox Library was considered one of the most notable architectural attractions in New York at the time of its completion.
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