Isamu Noguchi’s prolific career spanned from the 1920s until his death in 1988. Raised in Japan by his American mother (he is the illegitimate son of Japanese poet Yone Noguchi), Noguchi at first was Read more.
Originally commissioned for the World Trade Center, The Sphere stood between the Twin Towers in Austin Tobin Plaza from 1971 until the 9/11 attacks. The 25 foot high bronze by Fritz Koenig was meant Read more.
I had naively originally thought Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture was unique to Philadelphia’s LOVE park. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The original image was designed for the Museum of Modern Art Read more.
Possibly the most important German artist of the post World War II 20th Century, Joseph Beuys was a sculptor, performance artist, installation artist, graphic artist and art theorist. When I think of Read more.
The former Apartment of modern master Piet Mondrian on Art Nerd New York Read more.
The former apartment of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgie O’Keefe on Art Nerd New York Read more.
A beautiful little park amongst the governmental and financial buildings, City Park is a great place to bring a packed lunch, and sit around the fountain, surrounded by old timey oil lit lanterns. Read more.
Russian born Louise Nevelson began her shallow relief sculptures in the 1930s. She moved from studying in New York to Munich to assist Diego Rivera, causing a huge rift between the artist Read more.
Street art schmeet art. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, but I’m used to it being everywhere, from tags to wheat paste, its so common nowadays that it almost blends into the background. Read more.
Restored by the late artist’s estate in 2007, Keith Haring painted this orange and black mural on the opposite side of a handball court wall in 1986 as a reaction to the raging crack-cocaine epidemic Read more.
Built in 1889 by Plaza Hotel architect Henry Hardenbergh, Andy Warhol bought this modest townhouse in 1959 and lived here until 1974. In the early 1960s the ground floor... Read more.
The Standard Hotel New York is a design feat itself. The opulent glass structure sits on the edge of the Hudson, atop the High Line Park in the Meat Packing District, providing gorgeous river views Read more.
The artistic spirit of the East Village of the 1980s was one I dream about, & live through movies like “Downtown 81”, “Slaves of New York” & modern movies such as “Basquiat” & “I Shot Andy Warhol.” Read more.
The 34th Street Herald Square NR Subway station is one of the busiest in the city, other than 42nd Street. Most people are usually too immersed in their iPod music or magazines to pay attention to the Read more.
If you ever wanted to shit like a king, or at least a top level investment broker, now is your chance! You’d imagine the toilet in the greasy spoon Olympic Diner... Read more.
The little strip called Coenties Slip was home to a group of artists in the 1950s headed by Robert Indiana. Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist and Jack Youngerman had their studios by Read more.
The lobby of 505 Fifth Avenue is a permanent art installation. Artist James Turrell’s collaboration with architects Kohn Pederson Fox Associates have transformed the office building lobby Read more.
You have probably never noticed Max Neuhaus’ permanent installation, “Times Square.” Like me, most New Yorkers avoid the tourist heavy area at all costs. Read more.
Automobile-inspired, Art Deco decadence, the Chrysler building is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world and was designed by William Van Alen. Built in 1930, it was the headquarters for Read more.
Window dressing is a completely underappreciated art form. The windows at Bergdorf Goodman are by far the best in the city, if not the world, always weaving whimsical narratives w/ incredible vintage Read more.
The Gramercy Park Hotel, situated just off New York’s exclusive private park, is fancy. It is evident in every detail in every facet of the hotel that it was created by an art lover. Read more.
Not all sculptures are by artists- South African-American geophysicist and oceanographer Athelstan Spilhaus created the piece located at Rockefeller’s McGraw-Hill Building. Located in the sunken Read more.
Extra Place, a little street off Bowery, was a disused alleyway just a few years ago, one of the few leftovers of pre-Bowery Hotel Bowery. Now the little space off 1st Avenue has become an artwalk. Read more.
Founded in 1898, this gorgeous Gramercy mansion is dedicated to the fostering of the arts. With incredible interiors such as Tiffany ceilings and an impeccable art collection, the club also has Read more.
Seminal Cor-ten steel artist Tony Rosenthal’s public sculptures dot Manhattan. Like most public art of the era (late 60s/early 70s), the minimalist designs can sometimes go unnoticed, their industrial Read more.
Set amidst the fancy designer shops of West Broadway sits another Dia Foundation supported site. On the ground floor of the building next to Eileen Fisher’s flagship fashions, visitors will find Read more.
The Chelsea Market was once the site of the biscuit monopoly of the United States. Formerly a giant Nabisco Factory, everything from Oreos to Saltines were baked here and at the warehouse across the Read more.
In 1889, to mark the centennial of George Washington’s presidency, the city of New York constructed a wood and plaster arch at the North End of Washington Square Park, at the foot of 5th Avenue. Read more.
Of all of Tony Rosenthal's sculptures around New York, the saddest is “5 in 1” which has definitely seen better days. Hidden behind 1 Police Plaza near City Hall, the sculpture even started off on the Read more.
The statue on the top of this building is not hailing a cab from the roof, but has actually hailed from Mother Russia. The giant Lenin was originally a state commissioned work, which was hidden after Read more.
Chuck Close can be seen around town at art events in his fancy electric wheel chair, which holds him at almost eye level. Achieving fame with his large scale photorealistic paintings which are Read more.
Gallery Bar has taken the Lower East Side gallery trend to a new level, being a gallery by day and two-level lounge/bar at night. Sounds very smart to me in a declining economy- people will always Read more.
I do love Chinatown. As smelly, and crowded it is, with fish being thrown everywhere and who knows what you just stepped in (NEVER wear opened toed shoes), it makes me feel like I’ve gone on a little Read more.
In 1966, master painter Marc Chagall painted to enormous murals for the Metropolitan Opera, entitled “The Triumph of Music” and “The Sources of Music.” The murals, considered New York treasures Read more.
The Jane is a maritime themed budget hotel with great décor. Patrons stay in cruise ship style rooms, as the building was originally built in 1908 as a hotel for sailors. Survivors of the Titantic... Read more.
Believe it or not, Picasso never set foot in New York in his 91 years. And this tapestry isn’t exactly authentic- it is an artist-authorized replica of the curtain Pablo Picasso created for the ballet Read more.
A Lower East Side institution since 1980, ABC No Rio is the epicenter of DIY culture- featuring rock and punk shows, a gallery space and art studios. A collective of collectives, the building houses Read more.
Across from the famed Stonewall Inn, in a gated park area in Christopher Square two cast white male statues stand in a frozen intimate chat, while two women statues sit with each other on a nearby Read more.
The ultimate post-mortem vanity plate to himself, Joseph Pulitzer left $50,000 for the Pulitzer Fountain, to be erected in Grand Army Plaza at the South Eastern tip of Central Park. Read more.
Chelsea is a sea of white box galleries, one building looking like the next since it was formerly all warehouses. It is easy to lose your bearings- unless of course you are on the corner of 10th Ave.. Read more.
I always loved the idea of the time capsule. There’s one I mentioned at the 1939 World’s Fair site in Queens, not to be opened until 6939 AD. There’s the one in my parents’ back yard that I buried... Read more.
Saatchi & Saatchi, the infamous ad agency that gave us the “I Love New York” campaign, have their New York Headquarters on lower Hudson- which could be considered South Greenwich Village. Read more.
So, Woolworth’s is no more. But Frank W. Woolworth’s tribute to capitalism remains. The neo-Gothic building, designed by Cass Gilbert, was the tallest and most modern building in 1913- and paid for Read more.
Originally part of “Life Underground” (which we all know I am not a fan of…), The Metropolitan Transit Authority asked artist Tom Otterness to remove the bronze “Rat Cop,” as it was deemed offensive Read more.
A truly art encompassing “hostel” (although it is much nicer than a hostel), the Gershwin is adorned with giant white horns on its façade, and crammed with Pop art in its interior- from Warhol to... Read more.
The Comme de Garcons building on West 22nd Street is set amidst a heavily art-ed area, with Beuy’s 7,000 Oaks„ a slew of galleries and the Chelsea Art Museum on the same street. The building itself Read more.
On this site in front of the Javits Federal Building stood the controversial 120 foot long CorTen Steel “Tilted Arc” by Richard Serra. The piece was commissioned by the United States Arts-in-Arch... Read more.
A throw back to the traditional style of public art, the bronze statue, is Penelope Jenck’s statue of Eleanor Roosevelt at the entrance to Riverside Park on the Upper West Side, which was formerly an Read more.
Everyone knows The Met is the city’s most epic museum, with a vast collection from ancient to modern. I don’t have to tell you that it is a must see. I love to twirl around the period rooms alone... Read more.
Many public works are located in the historic Financial District, with all the promenades surrounding the corporate offices; it is a perfect place for public sculpture and what not. You’ll notice many Read more.
Many lobbies of corporations in New York feature art collections that are accessible to the public. The New York Times building commissioned a site specific piece for their Times Square lobby. Read more.
Greeted by Roy Lichtenstein’s 70 foot tall “Mural with Blue Brushstrokes”, the public spaces are dedicated to exhibition galleries and public art. The Lichtenstein was initially commissioned... Read more.
Since the early 90s, Michael Anderson has collected graffiti stickers off of New York’s streets. And now, Ace Hotel has used Anderson’s collection to create an incredible wallpaper of his collection Read more.
Most people I know say “What the hell is that thing? What is it counting?” as they point to the smoking, giant wall piece that is posted on the south side of Union Square. The answer is.. Read more.
A member of the Johnson & Johnson health and beauty empire family, J. Seward Johnson is known for his life-size bronze casts of actual people doing ordinary things. A philanthropic over achiever... Read more.
This giant Stella literally translates to “Jump into my Sack”. It hangs in the giant lobby of CitiCorp Center, which is enclosed in glass windows and looks especially epic at night. Read more.
Fernando Botero is known for his luscious curvaceous figures in sculpture & painting, some just refer to it as “fat.” Trained as a matador and set designer, Botero declared himself the “most Colombian Read more.
This is the first site of the eponymous graffiti gallery. I love this story from founder Patti Astor “I was meeting all the graffiti artists while we were getting the Wild Style movie together and Read more.
In this building with private Japanese restaurant, the native New Yorker, Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked here until his overdose at that magical age of 27. He had a rich short life- starting Read more.
Fans of the incredible illustrator, artist, teacher and rock-n-roll mama Tara McPherson will be in eye-candy heaven at her aptly named Williamsburg outpost, Cotton Candy Machine. Stocked full of the Read more.
