A National Treasure, the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio

exterior of whitney studio building

New York Studio School in New York City. Courtesy New York Studio School, 2009/Photo by Daniel Gerdes

"We would like to thank the National Trust for Historic Preservation for naming the Whitney Studio as a National Treasure," said Bonnie Burnham, president and chief executive officer at the World Monuments Fund and board member at the New York Studio School. "It will help raise awareness of the Studio's important history and the need for restoration ... a wonderful time to celebrate both the school's 50thanniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Studio."

"The Whitney Studio is the cradle of the modern American art movement," said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "A restored Studio will once again provide inspiring interior space for emerging artists, while also serving as a historic and educational resource, showing the stories of twentieth century masters."

The Whitney Studio is located within the larger complex of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture on the 2nd floor hayloft level of an original 1877 carriage house behind 8 West 8th Street on MacDougal Alley in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The Studio was part of the original site of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

As the art studio and salon of the sculptor and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), the Whitney Studio was at the center of the development of the early modern art movement in America, borne out of her tremendous advocacy on behalf of living American artists.

Once a sumptuous interior with a fantastic allegorical bas-relief ceiling and a 20-foot-high plaster and bronze fireplace with sculptural flames, painted in elaborate polychromatic schemes and detailed with corresponding stained glass windows and decorative screens, the Whitney Studio is in urgent need of restoration. While still maintaining many of its unique details, the Studio has suffered considerable deterioration over the years caused mainly by water infiltration and settlement, and several over-painting campaigns obscure the original polychrome features.

In addition to her work as an artist, Mrs. Whitney had a keen interest in helping young artists develop their potential. Over the decades, she began purchasing and showing their work, becoming the leading patron of American art from 1907 until her death in 1942. Mrs. Whitney supported many artists who were unknown at the time and are now regarded as masters in their fields, including John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, and Joseph Stella, to name a few.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with her assistant, Salvatore F. Bilotti, at work in her sculpture studio on MacDougal Alley, Greenwich Village, c. 1939. Photo credit: Courtesy New York Studio School

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A National Treasure, the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio

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