The First Museum Ever Built In New York City

                 Abraham Lincoln on the steps of the New-York Historical Society

At the corner of 77th and Central Park West on the island of Manhattan there is a large gray neo-classical building that houses the New-York Historical Society (That hyphen between the New and York was not a mistake - that's how the museum spells New-York, as it harkens back to the time when the name of the city was commonly hyphenated).

The New York Historical Society was founded 100 years or so before the building it currently calls home was built. The first home for the New-York Historical Society was the former home of the President of the U.S. when New York City was the temporary capital of the U.S., way back in 1809. The N-Y H.S. moved a few more times before it's current home was constructed in 1907-08.       
                                                       

         In a weird twist on optical illusions, it's actually smaller on the inside than it looks outside

The docents at the N-Y H.S. are quick to point out that the N-Y H.S. was in dire straights and used exclusively by academics with absolutely no access to the building for the general public from the mid-'70's through 1995, due to financial hardships that forced the N-Y H.S. to nearly bleed their endowment dry.

Since the late '90's though, grants and fundraising have put the N-Y H.S. back in the black and the collections, which are as impressive as the monolithic building, are once again open to the public.

The place is a treat for the history and the art enthusiast. Heck, if you only go into the second floor library/reading room/gallery and view the two huge stained glass windows, that will impress the beejesus out of you. They are both beautiful works of art, and worth the price of admission alone (which is, incidentally, $15.00)

                              Those two windows back there...impressive to say the least

In fact, anyone who appreciates stained glass is pretty much going to flip in the N-Y H.S. - especially when they feast their eyes on the Louis Comfort Tiffany collection. It's the world's largest collection of Tiffany lamps and glassware - truly magnificent.

To see the Tiffany collection you'll have to make your way to the fourth floor, where it is displayed in a large room along with toys, curios, furniture and other assorted artifacts representative of almost four hundred years of New York history.

                                              It's a stained glass lampshade lampapalooza

I specifically visited the museum to view paintings created by the Hudson River School of landscape painters. Ever since I first went into a catatonic state eyeballing an original Frederic Church landscape, I have had it bad for the Hudson River School.

Masterpieces of the Hudson River School, a traveling exhibition featuring works from such masters as Frederick Church, Thomas Cole, and Albert Bierstadt had wrapped up after two years of being featured at various museums throughout the country. I had read that the bulk of the exhibition was from the collection of the New-York Historical Society and whootie-kabootie, I was excited!

                         Two Thomas Cole landscapes behind thick, highly reflective glass

Alas, my hopes and dreams for an afternoon of soaking up the creative energies of the first truly American school of art were soon dashed. The large paintings were in storage, as the end of the Masterpieces of the Hudson River School exhibition had come and they had been packed up and put away, and a meager selection of smaller works, primarily those of Thomas Cole, was all that was on view.

To compound my agony, the paintings were all behind thick glass and, being as how large gallery spotlights were employed to illuminate them, there were endless reflections that had to be navigated around in order to take in the paintings.

With the exception of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre I have never encountered such extreme measures being taken to keep the public from getting too close to art. Maybe New York museum visitors are notorious for drawing mustaches on paintings with reckless abandon, and thus such measures are necessary.

The N-Y H.S. is also renown as the home of nearly every watercolor painting that John James Audubon ever produced, and they are indeed remarkable. They are displayed in the more traditional user friendly manner as well, making them all the more enjoyable.

                                    This is as definitive a collection as collections get

In my library back home I have a copy of Audubon's The Birds of North America and to see the original source material is a treat. Audubon was not only a talented artist, he was a keen observer of the conflicts in the natural world. Over half of the birds he painted seemed to be attacking something or being attacked themselves,

 
                                   Truly a beautiful gallery

Of course there is quite a bit of New York City history, and by extension American history, on view; from the early Colonial years to the Revolutionary war, the Civil War (quite a bit about slavery in New York, and the anti-draft riots), up to the 21st century.

Without becoming too maudlin, let me add that the 9/11 gallery is incredibly emotional.

                                  The 9-11 Memorial was intense

There is a lot to see of the history of the various people who built New York. It's one thing to read about how people from nearly every country on the planet have immigrated to the U.S. via New York and created something truly remarkable, it's a whole 'nother ball of wax to see photos and view the documents that record it. 

   Thomas Hart Benton's controversial oil painting, Embarkation (Prelude to Death), 1942-'43, on loan from the State Historical Society of Missouri

One of the unexpected treats encountered at the N-Y H.S. was the current exhibition of artifacts and stories of New York and New Yorkers during WWII.

  Various perspectives on how the U.S. should regard the situation in Europe pre-Pearl Harbor 

There was a general overview of how the city rose up to meet the challenge of building ships and producing supplies, and more personal stories of individual New Yorkers who went off to fight, some never to return

              Personal stories of New Yorkers involved in WWII - some of which are a bit surprising

It raised an eyebrow to read stories of Americans of Japanese heritage who faced discrimination and even had friends and family placed in interment camps in the west, but not one single word was to be found telling of the Americans of German descent who were forced out of their homes and fired from their jobs right here in New York City and interred on Ellis Island during the war. Why is that? 

All told the N-Y H.S. is, while a great museum with a lot for
both the mildly interested to the rabid connoisseur to enjoy, it is also somewhat lacking in the manner in which it is curated. especially the content of the fourth floor. The artifacts, furniture, paintings and other items on view there are at times difficult to fully enjoy, which is a shame. 

                           The best for last? The wall of the museum you view as you leave

There is a lot of space devoted to offices, meeting rooms, and an auditorium, so that might be the reason the pieces from the permanent collection on the fourth floor were so crammed together. Whatever the case, it really is somewhat of an injustice to a number of great artists and craftspeople whose work is difficult to fully appreciate in such small and somewhat dim quarters. 

                     Childe Hassam, Flags on 57th Street, Winter 1918, oil on canvas, circa 1918 

Still, the museum is worth the few hours it may take you to peruse the galleries. There is currently a unique collection of handmade antique toys on display that will have the rapt attention of anyone interested in miniatures and attention to detail on such a small scale (no photos allowed, so, no pic).