Art Students League of New York (New York City, New York)

 school, arts center

4-story French-Renaissance school building completed in 1892. Designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh in collaboration with W.C. Hunting & J.C. Jacobsen for the American Fine Arts Society, it later became home to the Art Students League of New York - an art school that has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.

Although artists may study full-time, there have never been any degree programs or grades, and this informal attitude pervades the culture of the school. From the 19th century to the present, the League has counted among its attendees and instructors many historically important artists, and contributed to numerous influential schools and movements in the art world.

The front facade on 57th Street is clad in white marble and terra-cotta. Below the heavily decorated cornice, with balustrade at the roof line, it is divided into three major horizontal divisions separated by plain and decorated band courses. The round-arched main entrance doorway is well decorated, being flanked by tall, ornate, candelabra-like spindles executed in stone. The entrance is approached by two low, steps with the wood-and-glass double-doors recessed behind a decorative iron gate in a portico atop another four steps. The top of the arch is filled by a cross-hatch pattern of iron screening, with a gilded laurel wreath. There are three windows, recessed in beveled frames, to the right, and two to the west, with a secondary entrance between them. It has narrow wood-and-glass double-doors and a tall transom, recessed in a bevel molding that matches those around the windows. There is a low basement entrance below the west-end window, with a plain iron gate between two low stone framing walls.

The 2nd floor is set off by a band course with an egg-and-dart molding. The surface, surrounding the three gracefully arched 2nd-floor windows, is embellished with rich decoration, and these three arches are likewise separated by large sculptured stone spindles. Within each arch is a tripartite window, divided by slender colonnetttes, and there is leaded glass in a web pattern within the top of the arch, surrounding the fanlight panes. The elaborate carvings of the arches are highlighted by ornate keystones. To either side is a single-window, topped by a small cornice and trapezoidal pediment with foliate carvings, miniature spindles, and putti on top. At the ends of the 2nd floor are intricate panels with a wealth of carved ornament, topped by stylized capitals. Another cornice with egg-and-dart molding tops the 2nd floor, and geometric panels at the four middle piers and two end piers bridge to the simple, but more projecting cornice at the base of the 3rd floor.

The center of the 3rd floor has three triple-windows (deeply-recessed, with equally recessed transoms) with mullions flanked by pilasters, decorated with a profusion of detail, matching those at the ends of the 2nd floor, and also appearing at the ends of this floor. The single-windows at the 3nd bays are similar to those below, but with ornament above the cornices that more resembles a rounded pediment, albeit with intricate carved details. Yet another cornice with egg-and-dart molding sets off the attic floor. It has oculus windows in the end bays, flanked by acanthus leaves, and three panels in the center, each framed by ornate foliate ornament and reading "PAINTING", "ARCHITECTURE", and "SCULPTURE". Above, a dentil course underlines the broadly projecting roof cornice, with scrolled brackets bearing acanthus leaves, alternating with rosettes on the soffit. A balustrade, adorned with delicate urns, and the low pitched red-tiled roof add a touch of stability and color to the crown of the building.

The north facade on 58th Street is only three stories, and far simpler, clad in reddish-brown and yellow brick. The ground floor has projecting limestone entrance bays at the ends, both with iron gates fronting steps down the low doorways set below round-arches. The arches and space around them, as well as the front and rear pillars supporting the portico roofs are ornamented with intricate carvings. The entablatures carried on the pillars have egg-and-dart moldings and cornices. Between the entry porticos is a low, angled skylight at the sidewalk level; above it the rest of the ground floor is clad in yellow brick. The upper floors are reddish-brown brick, with no openings, but five double-height, blind round-arches. A parapet of yellow brick marks the roof line.

In 2005, Extell Development paid $25 million for the bulk of the lot's air rights, and the resulting supertall Central Park Tower to the west actually cantilevers 28 feet over the 4-story building.

www.theartstudentsleague.org/About/