GALLERY OF MODERN ART
A MUSEUM
f
by
;fll3
Hanford Yang
B.A.
University of Pennsylvania
(1954)
Submitted in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the
degree of Master in Architecture
at Massachusetts Institute of
Te chnology
August, 1957
by
Hanford Yang
to
Lawrence B. Anderson
Head of Depairtment
"Architecture is judged by eyes that see, by
the head that turns and the leSs that walk.
Architecture ...
is made up of pictures
adding themselves together ...
like music."
Le Corbusier
-
I
Cambridge, Massachusetts
August 7, 1957
Dean Pietro Belluschi
School of Architecture and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dear Dean Belluschi:
I have the honor to submit herewith my thesis
entitled:
"Gallery of Modern Art."
Very truly yours,
Hanford Yang
L
I
ABSTRACT -
The purpose of this thesis is the design of an art museum to display
paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, and models of modern architecture.
Mr. Huntington Hartford, the
owner of the Museum, has named it
The Gallery of Modern Art, and the
site is
costing about $1,000,000
on Columbus Circle in New York
City.
There are three major components
in
this museum:
the main exhibition
hall, a small lecture room and a
snack bar.
Because of the charac-
teristic of a small site, the building
will be a multi-story one.
With the hope of providing the most
efficient method for exhibitions
in a vertical type of circulation,
the design for this project is intended
to be what the space wants to be: a
play of forms in light and shade.
DEDICATION -
To all museum lovers who believe
in the understanding of our past
and of other peoples and their
past, that upon this knowledge
they may build a keener interest
in the future.
t
L
CONT E NTS
GALLERY OF MODERN ART
-
-
- A MUSETM
CONTENTS
-
INTRODUCTION
Page 1
INQUISITIONS
Page 2
PROGRAM
1. Objectives
Page 7
2. The Site
Page 13
3.
Functions
Page 17
Public Spaces
Page 17
Exhibition Spaces
Page 19
Administrative and
Curatorial Spaces
Page 21
Operating Spaces
Page 23
Additional Spaces
Page 27
4.
Summation of
Space Needed
Page 28
5.
Finances
Page 33
MAPS
Page 34
PHOTOGRAPHS
Page 38
A SURVEY OF MUSEUMS IN
NEW YORK CITY
Page
43
SOUVENIRS
Page
50
SNTR O D UCTIONS
INTRODUCTION -
This is a simple story.
Mr. Hunting-
ton Hartford, member of the family
that founded the Great Atlantic and
Pacific Tea Company and the entrepreneur of the Huntington Hartford Enterprises, has decided to build an art
museum to house his own collections of
art.
The site of the museum is
to be
near Columbus Circle in New York City.
After the project was announced in the
papers everybody began talking about
it.
"Why not take this museum as the subject
of your Master's thesis in architecture?
It might be an interesting one,"
Dean Belluschi -urged me when I went to
see him about a topic.i
So I inquired further about the museum
and learned that it would indeed be an
interesting subject for a thesis.
Thus, it all began.
1
IN
Q UI SI TION S
IUISITIONS -
A certain amount of information about
the proposed museum was obtained by
direct contact and correspondence with
Mr.
Hartford and the Huntington Hart-
ford Enterprises.
With this informa-
tion a pro6ram for the design of the
project was then set up.
2
Question:
In general, what do your
collections consist of?
Answer:
Paintings, later on sculp-
tures.
question:
Does your collection rep-
resent one period of art only?
Answer:
Yes, nineteenth to twentieth
centuries, 1800 to contemporary.
question:
Does your -collection rep-
resent one type of art only?
Answer:
No. It includes all types of
art within these restrictions.
How-
ever, in the case of contemporary
art the emphasis will probably be less
on the abstract expressionism and extreme forms of art.
Question:
in
How many paintings are there
the collection?
Answer:
sent,
Twenty-five paintings at pre-
but the collection will continue
to grow indefinitely.
3
Question:
Answer:
What are these paintings?
They are mostly by Reginald
Marsh, Frederic Waugh, Edward Hopper,
Blakelock,Inness,
Question:
Monet,
and Orozco.
How many pieces of sculp-
ture are there in the collection?
Answer:
None at present, but some
will be gathered by the time the museum opens.
Question:
Do you collect other ob-
jects beside paintings and sculpture?
Answer:
The plan is to collect main-
ly paintings and sculpture, but one
floor in the museum will be dedicated
to architectural models,
perhaps to
prints and photography as well.
Question:
What is
the proposed name
of your museum?
Answer:
The Gallery of Modern Art.
4
'Question* How big a museum do you
intend to have?
Answer:
It will be approximately
height limit, or ten to twelve stories, depending on set-back, etc.
question:
Do you intend to expand
your museum in the future?
Answer:
No, although the building
may not be entirely used for a gallery in the beginning.
question:
Is a small auditorium or
lecture room needed?
Answer:
Yes. It may or may not go
through--possibly a circle-type
theatre.
Question:
Is a snack bar or cafe
needed?
Answer:
Yes, some kind of bar or res-
taurant on the top level or roof.
I
Question:
Do you intend to have
temporary displays in
Answer:
the museum?
There will be a room dedi-
cated to the Hartford Foundation in
California where painters could exhibit their works once a month.
Question:
Is
this museum going to be
open to the public free of charge?
Answer:
Probably there will be a
small admission fee, but it is hoped
to keep it somewhat lower than that
of the Museum of Modern Art, which
will be our natural rival.
Question: What is the exact location
of your property?
Answer:
At Columbus Circle,
between
West 58th Street and Broadway.
Question: Do you intend to expand
your property in the future?
Answer:
No.
6
PROG R AM
OBJECTIVES -
The purpose of the Gallery of Modern
Art, like any other fine arts museum,
is to give opportunity for enjoyment
to those who seek enjoyment and to
give opportunity for study to those
who seek knowledge.
The entire building, designed to display paintings, sculpture, prints,
photography and models of modern architecture, will create a small community of art and raise the general level
of refinement by giving pleasure and
imparting knowledge.
Through this institution, and others
like it, people may be led to appreciation and enjoyment of beauty and
to intelligent understanding of our
past and the past of other peoples.
Upon this knowledge they may build a
keener interest in the future.
In
studying the true nature of the
space involved,
one finds that the
Gallery of Modern Art actually has
7
three major components:
1. the main exhibition space
2. a small auditorium or lecture hall
3. a roof-top eating place
The exhibition space is,
of course,
the main feature of the entire museum.
Because of the characteris tics of the
relatively small site, which will be
studied in the following section, the
building will be naturally a multistory one.
The exhibition space, thus,
should be designed to have not only
easy horizontal circulation on each
floor for the museum visitors but also
carefully considered vertical circulation between the floors, so that a
feeling of continuity of space is present.
The whole museum, therefore, will
be composed of displays on a series of
levels rather than in different rooms.
The lighting for the exhibition space
is
also an important factor that re-
quires consideration in the design.
Mixed light--that is, light coming
from both the sun and lamps --is what
we are accuatomed to during daylight
hours.
The natural ingredient does
its share in illumination and at the
same time sets some of our primitive
feelings at rest. The artificial in-&
8redient makes up for the fact that
natural light can not do a fully satisfactory job indoors.
Museums must
recognize this double requirement.
Moreover, air conditioning should be
used in museums for the comfort of
visitors and employees and for the
conservation of the collections.
Ade-
quate air conditioning retards or eliminates shrinking, bulging, warping,
and cracking that may come from temperature and humidity changes.
It
keeps out dust; forestalls discoloration, "foxing,"
and growth of mold,
mildew and fungus; and prevents sub-
9
stances from decaying and softening,
from becoming brittle or loosened.
short,
In
any museum with important col-
lections to preserve must either meet
the cost of air conditioning or neglect a duty toward its charges.
In
addition to the main area, a spe-
cial exhibition space is to be designed for the Hartford Foundation in
California so that painters can display their efforts occasionally.
-
The auditorium with a seating capa-
city of about three hundred is another
important element in the Gallery. Besides offering fine motion pictures
and lectures by various experts in the
field of the arts, the space can also
be used for chamber music concerts, recitals, and recitations.
meeting room,
too,
It can be a
if so needed.
For easy control and circulation of a
maximum crowd the location of the audi-
10
torium would best be on the first
or in the basement.
floor
It is essential
that the assembly hall be usable without opening other parts of the museum.
The auditorium lobby and its service
facilities -- check room,
toilets, re-
ception room, pantry, and box office--should be adequately designed and conveniently located in relation to the
museum entrance.
The stage and auditorium should be
equipped with adequate lighting, ineluding footlights or outlets for similar lights,
public address system,
two-
way television circuit, area for television broadcasting,
and apparatus for
sound motion picture and slide projection.
-
A roof-top restaurant should provide
a pleasant atmosphere for both museum
staff and visitors.
Situated in the
heart of the towers of Manhattan and
11
overlooking Columbus Circle, Central
Park and the skyline of New York,
the
restaurant can indeed be one of the
ideal places to dine.
A staff lunchroom or kitchenette separate from the regular dining room is
not advisable. Where there is a public
restaurant a staff table or section is
the best solution.
The kitchen should
be designed with adequate facilities
and be located close to the dining
room.
12
jl
THE SITE -
Downtown plots in New York City are
occupied by a great number of museums.
Such a location near the business areas seems to surpass any other.
The property for Mr. Hartford's museum
is
located at Columbus Circle.
The site,
facing the New York City Coliseum,
is
an oddly-shaped island formed by the
junction of Eighth Avenue and Broadway,
between the Circle and Fifty-eighth
Street.
I
The land at present is
occu-
pied by a five-story building that
houses a shoe store and offices. About
$1,000,000 was paid for the building
and lot.
To the east, along Broadway,
the site
faces a group of tall apartment buildings constructed of red brick with
simple facades.
They are twenty
stories high, with the ground floors
being leased to drug stores,
garment shops,
ladies'
and shoe stores.
To the south, across Fifty-eighth
I
13
L
Street, is
It
is
the General Motors Building.
about twenty-six stories high
with a limestone facade.
The site faces the Coliseum on the west
side.
Essentially this newly finished
structure consists of a four-level
exhibition hall surmounted along the
Fifty-eighth Street frontage by a twenty-story office building.
The entire
basement and sub-basement are used as
parking garage with a capacity of 666
self-parked cars or 850 attendentparked vehicles.
designed facade is
The conservatively
of light-grey brick
with vertical lines emphasized by recessed panels in the windowless lower
portion of the building.
Columbus Circle is directly to the north
of the site.
The circle provides an
open view toward Central Park.
It is
conceivable that the proposed museum
will have, therefore, a magnificent
outlook toward the wooded park and the
city skyline beyond.
34J
The site is
easily accessible from all
parts of the city.
Avenue-Broadway,
Both the Seventh
Sixth and Eighth Ave-
nue subways have stations at Fiftyninth Street, and the Fifty-seventh
Street station of the BMT is only one
block away.
The Grand Central Station
of the New York Central and New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, at
Forty-second Street and Park Avenue,
is
a short distance by subway, bus,
taxi.
or
At Thirty-fourth Street and
Seventh Avenue the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, which also is the Manhattan terminal of the Long Island Railroad and some New York, New Haven and
Hartford and other trains, is even
closer.
It is also only a few minutes
from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Bus lines on Fifty-seventh and Fiftyninth Streets as well as on Fifth,
Sixth., Seventh, Eighth, Broadway,
and
Ninth Avenues pass by or are conveni-
ent to the site.
The Franklin D.
Roosevelt Drive, the Miller Highway,
and the Henry Hudson Parkway encircle
the island of Manhattan and permit
easy access by automobile by way of
the bridges and tunnels across the
Hudson River from New Jersey, across
the East River from Queens, Brooklyn
and Long Island, and from the arterial highway system of the Bronx, Westchester, upper New York State, and
New England.
Physically, the site is a rather
small one.
Along Broadway, on the east
side, the site is approximately 75 feet,
11 inches; south, along West Fiftyeighth Street, 97 feet, 1; inches; west,
along Eighth Avenue, 40 feet, 81 inches;
2
north, facing Columbus Circle, 75 feet,
9 inches.
j
1
I
FUNCTIONS -
A museum is a sort of creature for
which the museum building is
the sup-
porting structure and covering.
good building fits
A
its occupant and
provides for natural action,
and its
physical volume ought to have ways
of being increased as well as decreased
when the occupant and exhibition
changes.
A functional shelter is just
as important as a functional staff,
and through proper housing the staff
I
can be even more effective.
The following types of space will be
required to provide for the proper
activities of the Gallery of Modern
Art:
I.
Public Spaces
Lobbies
A spacious,
attractive, well lighted
and well ventilated lobby is necessary to receive visitors.
The lobby
should be-designed so as to put the
visitors at ease and orient them to
17
I
the contents of the museum.
It con-
trols traffic to exhibits, to meeting rooms and auditorium, to curators' offices and to the restaurant.
The usual features of a lobby are information desk, publications and reproductions salesroom or island,
check room, sitting areas and toilets.
It also provides mailbox, telephones,
writing desks, drinking fountains,
directory and directing devices and
guard post.
Special Exhibits Space
An area of 1000 sq.ft. should be located close to the auditorium or main
lobby for the travelling exhibitions
and Hartford Foundation displays.
Auditorium
The auditorium should have a seating
capacity of three hundred.
it
Preferably
should be located on the first
floor or in t.he basement.
The audi-
torium proper should be an unbroken
18
space with a level floori and portable
chairs, so that it gives a useful
room for receptions, meetings and
perhaps even exhibitions.
There
should be soft flooring, proper acoustical treatment, air conditioning, and special lighting.
Small
dressing rooms, toilets and storage
spaces should be provided backstage.
II. Exhibition Spaces
Collections for exhibition in the Gallery of Modern Art belong under five
categories: painting, sculpture,
prints, photography, and architectural
models.
The allocation of exhibition
space among the various exhibits is
approximately as follows:
10,000 sq.ft.
Painting .............
*Sculpture
6,000 sq.ft.
.............
Prints ................
1,000 sq.ft.
Phctography ...........
1,000 sq.ft.
*Architectural models
..
2,000 s.ift.
Total exhibition space 20,000 sq.ft.
19
*Part or all of the rooms for sculpture and architectural models will
require high ceilings.
With new freedom given by recent developments in engineering and architectural design, the museum planner
can approach the problem of organizing space in a direct and practical
way.
No longer need one take for
granted some conventional form such as
U-and V- shaped, E- shaped, H- shaped
or other such formal plans for exhibitions.
tory if
These shapes are satisfacrequirements of the museum
necessitate their use, but they are
no longer indicated before the problem is worked out.
Nevertheless, in
conducting visitors through the museum, passageways and vertical transportation must be adequate to handle the
large crowds who come to see the exhibits and who move along in groups
from a starting point.
Circulation
20
j
areas should also be adequate and
usable for special exhibitions
during quiet periods,
Smoking lounges -with associated
rest rooms,
preparation rooms and
temporary storage areas should be
distributed throughout the exhibition
spaces.
In
addition, all floors must
have the full complement of service
and maintenance facilities including
mop sinks,
storage closets for clean-
ing supplies and equipment,
outlets
for scrubbing, vacuum cleaning and
waxing.
III. Administrative and Curatorial
Spaces
Administrative offices should have
adequate and well placed space for
the personnel.
Location of offices
in the building is
a matter of very
practical concern since business
visitors should not ha've to be privately conducted nor should they be
21
sent exploring through the building
in order to reach a member of the
Staff.
The route from the main en-
trance to the offices should be under control from the lobby.
This is
partly for convenience and partly to
prevent thefts from the offices.
From the administrative areas it
should be easy to reach the curatorial offices, exhibition space and
service quarters.
Modern, ample, and efficient work
places are essential.
Offices should
have proper closet and cabinet space.
There should be convenient toilet
facilities for the staff.
Dividing
partitions should be light and flexible.
Flooring should be wood or
linoleum.
The ceiling should be
treated acoustically.
There should
be windows to let in some natural
light and air conditioning for the
comfort of the staff members.
22
I
IV. Cperating Spaces
Housekeeping services of the museum
are a varied number of activities
having to do with supply, maintenance, and shop work, and with the
arrival, movement, and departure of
museum possessions and exhibitions.
The artisans and laborers of the
service force engaged in these operations are under the control of the
superintendent.
The superintendent's
office should be at the service entrance to facilitate supervision.
The service entrance,
which leads to
workrooms and other parts of the service quarters, should also be conveniently located for truck traffic.
The rooms of the registrar and photosrapher should be grouped with the
service quarters since the recording
and photographing of works of art that
come and go can best be done there.
23
Service Entrance
The service entrance should lead directly to the receiving room with a
packing and unpacking area.
A door-
way for the use of service employees,
delivery men, and other persons
should be provided.
It
requires al-
so a freight portal for the use of
trucks.
The Receiving Room
About 500 sq.ft. is
receiving room.
needed for the
Other rooms, such
as the superintendent office, storage,
shop, and work areas, and registrar's
and photographer's quarters, should
be conveniently connected.
The receiving room and the freight
elevator should lend themselves to
movement of materials throughout the
building.
Superintendent's Office
This is
the control room. It
should
be placed so that the superintendent
can see through a window or glazed
24
partition what goes on at the service
entrance and in the receiving room.
100 sq.ft. is required.
The Freiht
Generally it
Elevator
should be large,
slow,
and powerful, and should be operated by push button.
70 sq.ft, is
required.
The Registrar's Quarters
The registrar's room should communicate freely with the receiving room
and should also be arranged for complete closing under lock and key.
The storage place may require simple
picture racks and shelves to take
care of the works of art.
Photography Workrooms
Required are a studio or camera room
of at least 150 sq.ft.,
a dark room
of 40 sq.ft, for loading, unloading,
film developing and drying, and another larger room for printing, enlarging, and the developing, fixing,
washing and drying of prints.
Shops
Not only should adequate space be provided in a suitable location, but the
space too should be planned for the
required shop operations by someone
experienced in the work.
The principal kinds of shop work for
which provisions are needed are carpentry, painting and finishing, machine and sheet metal work, electrical maintenance, and structural installation. About 600 sq.ft. is needed.
Storage Space
An area for exhibition cases, equipment,
and collections not in use is
required. About 1000 sq.ft, should
be enough. Other housekeeping storage, as of restaurant supplies,
jani-
tor's supplies and office supplies,
should be put in places convenient
to those who use them.
26
Pr
Boiler Room and Air Conditioning Room
As a rule, the space should be centrally located at a level lower than
the basement or in a sub-basement.
It should be isolated and ventilated.
V. Additional Spaces
Restaurant
The restaurant will operate principally for lunch for visitors and museum employees.
It will be arranged
to serve as a snack bar for refreshments during morning and afternoon
periods.
The kitchen should be conveniently
located to the dining room.
Storage
space and service area should be ade-
quate.
xterior
paces
Outdoor exhibits,
sculpture,
foun-
tains, garden patios, sheltered
spaces, benches and roof terraces
should be considered.
27
I
r
SUMMATION OF.SPACE NEEDED
I* Public Spaces
Lobbies ........... 900 sq.ft.
Check rooma .
100 sq.ft.
Toilets ........... 200 sq.ft.
Storage roomp ......
100 sq.ft.
Sales ............. 100 sq.ft.
Special exhibi-tion space *.... 1,000 sq.ft.
Auditorium *.....
1,600
sq.ft.
Other spaces .... 1,000 sq.ft.
Total
5,000 sq.ft.
I
28
L
II.
Exhibition Spaces
10,000 sq.ft
Painting .....
Sculpture
6,000 sq.ft
....
.
Prints ........
1,000 sq.ft
Photography ...
1,000 sq.ft
Architectural
models .......
2,000 sq.ft
Smoke lounges
and toilets ....
800 sq.ft
Storage .........
200 sq.ft
Other spaces
Total
..
.
1,000 sq.ft .
22,000 sq.fft.
I
29
III. Administrative and Curatorial
Spaces
Director's
office ........
200 sq.ft.
Reception
room ..........
400 sq.ft.
Pantry .........
100 sq.ft.
Toilets ........
200 sq.ft.
Stenographers ..
300 sq.ft.
Files and
storage .......
300 sq.fft.
l,500 sq.ft.
Ouratorts
office,.......
200 sq.ft.
Stenographers .
300 sq.ft.
Library
200 sq.f t.
Files and
storage *......
300 sq.ft.
1,000 sq.ft.
Staff lounges ..
600 sq.ft.
Other spaces ...
400 sq.ct.
1,000 sq.ft.
Total
3,500 sq.ft.
30
rl
I
I
IV.
I
Operating Spaces
Service
entrance
100 sq.ft.
Receiving room
500 sq.ft.
Superintendent's
office .........
100 sq.ft.
Freight elevator
100 sq.ft.
Registrars
quarters .......
200 sq.ft.
Photography
workrooms ......
250 sq.ft.
Shops
600 sq.ft.
Storage .......
1 $000 sq.ft.
Boiler room
and air-conditioning
room .........
I,500 sq.ft.
Toilets and
locker rooms
6oo sq.ft.
Other spaces
450, sq.ft.
Total
5,400
sq.ft.
I
31
I
I
V., Additional Spaces
Restaurant .....
2,000 sq.ft.
Kitchen
800 sq. ft.
Storage
200 sq.ft.
Toilets
200 sq.ft.
Roof terraces
and outdoor
exhibits ......
Other spaces .....
2, 000 sq.ft.
300 sq .ft.
Total
I
Total for the
Gallery of
Modern Art .........
or approximately ...
5,500 sq.ft.
41,400 sq.ft,
42,000 sq.ft.
h
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32
FINANCES -
As head of the institution, the president, Mr. Huntington Hartford,
should
take the initiative in providing income, but in order that the museum may
have a healthy life and growth he
should have the support of the executive committee and of the trustees--if
such an organization is
desired by
Mr. Hartford--as well as the assistance of the director, who functions
as professional advisor to the board
and as agent of the board in the conduct of museum business.
The cost of the new building is
timated at #1,500,000.
es-
About #1,000,000
was paid for the property by Mr. Hartford.
Admission fees; income on endowment consisting of interest or dividends on
stocks, bonds, mortgages, loans and rental of real estate; and contributions
and gifts will be the income for maintenance of the museum.
33
L
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Gaflery *f Modern Art
at Columabus CivelU
Musnus of Modern Art
at West Fiftythird
Street
Metropolitan Museum
at Pifth Avenue "d
Sighty-ncond Steet
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1Fifth Avenue
37
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P HOTOG RAP H S
View of Coflbus Circl
38
A
/
44
I
A
To the east, along Broadway,
the site faces a group of
tall apartment buildings.
39
2
4
4
4
I
ille
To the south, acroma
Fifty-eighth Street, is
the General Motors Building,
40
UEImpULu
PUTIu
r"
The site faces
the Coliseum
on the west*
4
AV A
Columbus Circle is
directly to the
north of the site.
2
a
-
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A
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A
IN
SURVEY. OF MUSEUMS
NEW
YORK
CITY
A SURVEY OF MUSEUMS IN
NEWY YORK CITY
1. Brooklyn Museum:
Houses extensive
and varied collections covering the
fine and applied arts.
Also here
are held important temporary exhibitions.
Permanent collections con-
tain fine European and American
paintings,
especially early works of
this country and an inclusive group
of modern artists; Indian objects
from the United States, Mexico and
South America; and African art,
2. The Cloisters:
Is
a branch of the
Metropolitan Museum, at Fort Tryon
Park overlooking the Hudson River
in uptown New York.
This museum is
a successful attempt to recapture
the effect of medieval art through
the use of architectural ensembles,
reconstructed as accurately as possible and used, as they were in the
past,
as the setting for sculpture
and painting and other artistic
43
works.
Included in the displays
are the series of "Unicorn" tapestries, individual Romanesque and
Gothic sculpture like the thirteenth
century heads high up in a chapel,
and the multi-colored Madonna and
child of the fourteenth century
which was sold by Hitler under the
pretext that it
3. The Coliseum:
was French art.
Has four exhibition
floors with 273,672 sq.ft. for
boat shows, flower shows, dog shows,
home shows, do-it-yourself shows,
and other exhibitions.
4. Cooper Union:
Contains collections
of applied arts, especially textiles.
5. Frick Collection:
level.
Is kept on a high
The paintings include master-
pieces by Duccio,
Piero della Fran-
cesca, Castagno, Bellini, Titian, El
Greco, Goya, Rembrandt, and Hals.
Fine porcelains,
enamels and numerous
L4
other objects are included.
6. Grolier Club:
Offers important tem-
porary exhibitions and permanent
collections devoted to the arts of
book-making and printing.
7. Hispanic Society of America:
a collection of paintings,
Contains
sculpture,
and drawings covering Spanish-American subjects as well as works by the
great Spanish masters.
8. The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Re-
puted to cover the fine arts more
fully than any other museum although
it
still
work.
excludes much primitive
The comprehensiveness of the
collections is matched, in numerous
fields, by their richness in works
of very high quality.
The galleries
of classical art cover the whole development from an early Archaic figure of more than life size to a series
of frescoed rooms from Boscoreale
45
T
(near Herculaneum) which are unique
outside of Naples and Pompeii.
Egyptian collections are,
The
in part,
from the museum's own excavations.
The assemblage of arms and armor is
the finest in America.
Also excel-
lent are the collections of silver,
lace,
textiles,
ceramics and the
other applied arts.
The painting
collections include works of Filippo Lippi, Raphael, Titian, Veronese,
and Bronzino; the Spanish school,
with numerous works by El Greco and
Goya; magnificent examples of Van
Eyck,
Van der Weyden,
Bruegel,
Rubens,
Hals and Rembrandt; French painting
from the time of the Avignon and Fontainebleau masters; and English and
American works.
The department of
prints and drawings is also of great
importance.
9. Museum of the City of New York:
Houses many objects which have, beside
46
their historic value, the quaint
charm of early days.
Certain old
American portraits are also displayed.
10. Museum of Modern Art:
Was estab-
lished in 1929 as a place for the
exhibition of contemporary masters
and experimenters.
It
has already
a collection of fine works along
with important modern exhibitions,
Picasso's "Guernica,"
and one-man
shows of Rouault, Leger, and Miro.
In addition,
there are collections
of moving pictures, photography,
architectural material and applied
arts.
11. Museum of Non-objective Art (or
Guggenheim Museum):
Set up by the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
The permanent collection centers
.around
Bauer and Kandinsky, with
other works of similar type.
47
12. National Academy of Design:
Has
been holding annual exhibitions for
over a hundred years.
It possesses
too an extensive collection of works
by and of its members.
13. New York Historical Society:
Owns
several galleries of paintings together with a multitude of historical objects.
Some paintings are by
early Americans while others date
from a time before New York had a
permanent art museum.
These works,
along with Egyptian, Assyrian, and
ancient Mexican ones,
were given to
the Historical Society during that
period.
14. New York Public Library:
collections of paintinga,
Has varied
including
works by Turner, Reynolds, Copley,
and Stuart, and a large number of
prints.
48
15. Pierpont Morgan Library:
Is one of
the great private libraries of the
world.
It is especially rich in 11-
luminated manuscripts and other
rarities of the book-making art.
Drawings by masters,
including an
impressive group of works by Blake,
are housed here.
16. Whitney Museum of American Art:
De-
veloped from exhibitions held at a
club founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney.
It still stages important
exhibitions of contemporary American
painters and sculptors.
A long con-
tinued program of support to American artists by the purchase of their
work has given the museum a permanent collection.
It is affiliated
with the Metropolitan Museum.
49
SOUVENIRS
New York Times
June- 11-, 1956
fualj
iArt
nk-
Museum at Columbus Circle
Planned by Huntington Hartford'
tst- A. & P. Heir to Build 10 -story
be
nic Gallery for Modern Works
'he
at Cost of $2,500,000
L 7o
gn
4
L
By SANKA KNOX
COtumBU~ PARK
he The burgeoning plans for the
0 cc
SOUTr
at, Columbus Circle area have
galart
new
a
to
include
grown
.if-in lery. Huntington Hartford, mem-ber of the family that founded
5S
:e- the Great Atlantic and Pacific
A
S
O
Tea Company, plans to build the
0
CALLERY OF
on gallery.
-N
Ls- Mr. Hartford's project, alrs though not yet in the blueprint
W 57
S
ST
5
W
ed stage, is planned as a ten-story
rs building that would be a marble l
ot showplace of the visual arts. The
as site, facing the Coliseum, is an
ig island, formed by the juncture of Setting for planned museum
of Eighth Avenue and Broadway,
nt between the Circle and Fifty- and will be designed to match
the Coliseum.
eighth Street,
le The land is occupied by a fiveThe name of the institutioni
)Y story building housing a shoe will be the Gallery of Modern
fstore, office space and a large Art. Mr. Hartford said he fats advertising sign. About $1,000,- vored a liberal approach to con. 1 000 was paid for the building and temporary painting, but opposed
Id oddly shaped lot. The cost of the extreme trends.
ginew building is estimated at Mr. Hartford wants a garden
restaurant at the top of the
d $1500,000.
building. He is tentatively Plansebeen
not
has
architect
An
y
glected for the new building. But, Ining a theatre for art films. Six
Mr. Hartford said yesterday, the or seven floorls, with approxbuilding will be simple. It will imately 4,000 square feet each,
be white or off-white in color, Continued on Page 3 Column 3
TI
IArt Museum at Columbus Circle
Planned by Huntington Hartfo rd
Continued From Page 1
were pitched'i a fa' milder key
than other of- his public state
will be. devoted to art. The space ments on the subject Last year,
is about equal to that in the in full-page advertisements in
Museum of Modern Art.
New York newspapers, Mr. HartThe remaining floors will be ford defined his views of what
rented'as office space at first- art is. These views excluded
But eventually the entire build- both photographic realism and
ing will be used to display paint-i abstraction.
ings, sculpture, prints, photo-.
The state of art in the nation,
graphy and, possibly models of he wrote, in "the profession of
modern architecture, Mr. Hart- painting, at. least; has esthet-!
ford said. -ically,
morally and in certain
There.,will be shops at street quarters even politically become
level. The entrances will be on' a thoroughly. degenerate one."
Fifty-eighti Street. he said.
Mr. Hartford asserted that Pablo
Mr.,;Haitford said he thought Picasso had gone "an amazing
of his new'Venture
mostly as distance toward wiping out sina museum,, with a curator in gle-handed all the gains that
charge. But paintings will be have been mad- in tit'iord of
sold in the gallery.
painting in the ia
500 yeat-s."
"I want, to encourage artists,
Mr. Hartford has acolledtian
but the emphasis 'Will be on ex- of twenty-five paintings, whih
hibition;"4Mr. Hartford said.
he will continue to' add to, he
He considers himself- "quite said. His pictures inclde work
liberal"' in bhis views on art.
by -Reginold Marsh, Frederic
"But I don't favor extreme ab- Waugh and Edward Hopper,
* stract expressionism, or -other Blakelock, Inness, Monet and
extreme trends," he said.
Orozco. The collection will be on
Mr. Hartford's exceptions to permanent loan in the new gal'certain trends in art yesterday ler.
I
.....
Office of the Dean of Architecture and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
April 29, 1957
Mr. Huntington Hartford
River House
435 East 52nd Street
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Hartford:
Mr. Hanford Yang, a graduate student at the School of Architecture
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, came to me in search of
a subject for his Master's thesis. I recommended your Museum project
to him as I thought it nmight be an interesting one.
It is understood that
all students who wish
of any thesis project
compete with any work
at present engaged on.
the thesis is one of the requirements for
to obtain a Master's degree and the solution
is purely academic. Lt will not in any way
on the Museum that your architects may be
I would appreciate jrour assistance to Mr. Yang in the matter of
furnishing some essential information for the thesis. This will
comprise a map of the Museum site and a simple program of the
requirements, etag
Sincerely,
PB:ef
Pietro Belluschi
ED
cc
OIE BEEKMAN PLACE
NEW YCRK CITY
May 13, 1957
Dear
r. Belluschis
I would be delighted to co"perate
in any manner with Mr. Hanford Yang. I have not
yet selected an architect for the museum, but I
hope to do so within the next few weeks. Whoever
the architect turns out to be, I will make sure
that he gives Mr. Yang whatever information he
needs.
Kindest regards,
Huntington Hartford
- -------
Huntington Hartford Enterprises
420 Lexington Avenue
New York 17, N.Y.
July 9, 1957
Mr. Hanford Yang
School of Architecture
M.I.T.
Cambridge 39
Massachusetts
Dear Mr. Yang:
out of town and
As Mr. Huntington Hartford is still
will not be back before next week he asked me to thank you for your
Unfortunately I do not have the questionnaire
letter of June 24,1957.
letter but I will try and reply as directly
your
with
you
enclosed
which
as possible.
Mr. Hartford's collection consists almost entirely of oil
western hemisphere. It represents the period
the
of
paintings
It will include all types
19/20th century-1800 to contemporary.
of art within these restrictions - however, in the case of contemporary
art the emphasis will probably be less on the abstract expressionism
and extreme forms of art. There are about 25 paintings in Mr. Hartford's
collection but he hopes to continue collecting for an indefinite period
of time along the same lines as he has been doing.
So far he has no sculpture but hopes to have some when
the museum is ready.
Although the object in niid is to collect paintings and
sculpture, Mr. Hartford hopes to have one floor dedicated to architectural
models.
The name of the building will THE GALLERY OF MODERN ART.
height limit, which will probably be 10/12 stories,
approximately
be
will
It
It will not be possible to expand. The
etc.
set-back,
on
depending
entirely for a gallery at the beginning but
utilixed
be
not
may
building
extent. Mr. HartBfrd has a tentative
possible
greatest
the
will be to
plan to build a theatre on one floor which may or may not go through possibly a circle type theatre. Definitely planning to have some kind of
bar or restaurant on top floor or roof. Mr. Hartford intends to have a room
dedicated to his Foundation in California, where painters could possibly
exhibit once a month in the room.
There will proball7 be a small admission charge but it is
hoped to keep it somewhat less than that of the Museum of Modern Art which
will be our natural rival.
4
(co
hED
-2-.
The property is located at Columbus Circle here in
New York City. I do not have any plans of the property readily
available but could possibly get stome for you if you wish. The
enclosed newspaper clipping may be of interest to you, as it shows
the site of the proposed gallery.
If there is any additional information which you
require please let me know and I will be delighted to send it
immediately.
Sincerely yours,
Encl:
Barbara Solier
Secretary to
Mr. Huntington Hartford
4
"Architecture is
the play of forms
under the light, the play of forms
correct, wise and magnificent."
Le Corbusier
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