Glory of Commerce by J-F Coutan, Grand Central Terminal

This essay is adapted from Chapter 26 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book, all of which will eventually be updated and…

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Marteleur by Constantin-Emile Meunier, Columbia University

Artist: Constantin-Emile Meunier Dedicated: 1914 (sculpted 1884, first exhibited 1886) Medium and size: Bronze (6.6 feet), on a granite pedestal (3.25 feet) by McKim, Mead and White Location: Columbia University,…

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General William Jenkins Worth Monument

Artist: James Goodwin Batterson Dedicated: 1857 Medium & size: granite obelisk, 51 feet tall, with inscriptions and bronze reliefs Location: north end of the triangle formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway,…

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Cornelius Vanderbilt by Ernst Plassmann, Grand Central Terminal

This essay is adapted from Chapter 25 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book, all of which will eventually be updated and…

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Faking It (Business of Art, 5)

Almost 20 years ago, I wrote a couple dozen essays on the history of painting for BeyondBooks.com, a subscription service that provided online supplementary materials for high-school students. The site’s…

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Alexander Lyman Holley, by John Quincy Adams Ward

This essay is adapted from Chapter 6 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book, all of which will eventually be updated and…

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Peter Cooper, by Augustus Saint Gaudens

This essay is adapted from Chapter 10 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book, all of which will eventually be updated and…

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Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University: Five Favorites

The Fogg Museum at Harvard University opened in 1895 in a Renaissance-style  building designed by Richard Morris Hunt, whose Metropolitan Museum Wing D (facing Fifth Avenue) was completed within the…

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