Mansions and Museums: The Architecture of the Neue Galerie and the Jewish Museum

Professor Andrew S. Dolkart, Columbia University

Early in the 20th century, some of New York’s wealthiest families moved north along Fifth Avenue, filling the blockfronts between 86th and 96th Streets. Among those who moved into this new center of prestigious houses were the Miller and Warburg families. Although their lifestyles were radically dissimilar, both commissioned grand houses from prestigious architects. The results could not be more different. This lecture by Andrew Dolkart, Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University, will explore the architecture and social history of the Miller and Warburg houses, both of which now host museums, and place their designs within the context of New York’s early 20th-century development.

Andrew Dolkart is a Professor of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and is a co-founder of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. He is a preservationist and historian specializing in the architecture and development of New York City and is the author of several award winning books, including Morningside Heights: A History of Its Architecture and Development, which received the Association of American Publishers’ award for best scholarly book in architecture and urban design; Biography of a Tenement House in New York City: An Architectural History of 97 Orchard Street; The Row House Reborn: Architecture and Neighborhoods in New York City, 1908-1929, which won the Society of Architectural Historians’ prestigious Antoinette Forrester Downing Award in 2012; and the recently revised history of the Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue: From Mansion to Museum.

Neue Galerie New York is delighted to participate in the celebration of Archtober, New York City’s Architecture and Design Month. This annual festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions takes place each October. This lecture is co-presented with The Jewish Museum.

This event is made possible in part with the generous support of Selldorf Architects.

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1048 Fifth Avenue: From Mansion to Museum
Architectural historian Andrew Dolkart recounts the colorful history of the building on its journey from mansion to museum. In the process, he illuminates the social changes of New York over the course of a century.