The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club at 15 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the New York Times, to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate people in the fine arts." The National Arts Club has several art galleries, and hosts a variety of public programs in all artistic areas, including theater, dance, fashion, literature, and music, and more. Although the club is private, all of its programming and exhibitions are free and open to the public.
History Founding
A group of New York's preeminent artists and patrons, all of them involved in architecture, art, or civic affairs, discussed the possibility of a new kind of club that would embrace all the arts. The establishment of the club came at a time when American artists were increasingly turning to their own nation rather than exclusively to Europe as a center of work and creativity. Significantly, the club would offer full membership for women at the onset, reflecting their accomplishments in the arts.
While the group was working out an organizational plan, Charles DeKay, the literary and art critic of the New York Times for 18 years, returned from a diplomatic post abroad. An inspired organizer and entrepreneur, he sent letters to important men and women in the New York area as well as in metropolitan areas across the country. The response was so enthusiastic that the club was able to apply to Albany for its charter in 1898. With the application went a list of the officers, board of trustees, and members totaling more than 1200.
The list included such collectors as Henry Frick, William T. Evans, Benjamin Altman, Jules Bache and Henry Walters. Though not a charter member, J. Pierpont Morgan joined the club early in its development and was later made an Honorary Vice President. Among the artists of the period, earlier charter members, or those who joined in the early days of the club, were Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and George Bellows.
The club's first home was a brownstone on West 34th Street. Commerce, meanwhile, was moving up from downtown, and the neighborhood of brownstones was changing.
20th Century
Because it accepted both men and women, the club was a success and soon required additional space. Walter Leighton Clark, patron and founder of the Grand Central Art Galleries, became a life member in 1907, and was joined by others in his artistic, business and social circles.
Spencer Trask, the club's treasurer, was asked to find the club a new home. He found that 14 and 15 Gramercy Park South, the former home of Samuel Tilden, was on the market. In 1906, the club acquired the Samuel J. Tilden House.
Throughout the 20th century, the club was primarily noted for its exhibits, with a few controversies arising from some of its shows. In 1905, the club displayed a sculpture of Aphrodite that purported to be from ancient Rome. Critics were quick to deride the statue as a fake, placing it as a work that came from a much later era. In 1922, "Nude Girl with a Shawl" (now known as "Nude with White Shawl"), a painting by George Bellows, offended the audience of the time, who considered it immoral.
21st Century The early 21st century was marked by financial crisis and a decade-long feud between the club's long-running president and its board that eventually led to the president's expulsion and settlement of state charges against him by the New York State Attorney General's Office.
In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the club renovated parts of its building to allow for the opening of new galleries.
Clubhouse Initial clubhouse The initial clubhouse was noted for its tea rooms and the fact that it allowed both men and women to commingle. However, with a growing membership, the club was forced to find a new home. It initially purchased a building next door to the original clubhouse but, in 1906, the club found an opportunity to move into a new space: the Samuel Tilden Mansion.
Samuel Tilden House
Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J. Tilden House, a landmarked Victorian Gothic Revival"National Arts Club Designation Report" New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (March 15, 1966) brownstone at 15 Gramercy Park, next door to The Players, a club with similar interests. The Tilden House was designated a New York City landmark in 1966,, p.86 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It is located in the Gramercy Park Historic District.
The new clubhouse opened its doors in 1906, with a billiard room and a parlor on the ground floor, and reading rooms and smoking rooms on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor was purely focused on for female members.
Facade During the 2006 restoration of the Tilden mansion's stoop, the Brazilian New York City artist Sergio Rossetti Morosini sculpted a bust of Michelangelo above the front door on the building's façade.
Permanent collection The NAC houses a permanent collection of over 700 works of art, many of which were directly donated by artists in the early 20th century. These pieces, which include paintings, photographs, sculptures, and works on paper, embody the rich history of the NAC's community and exemplify American Impressionism, Tonalism, and contemporary American art.
The core of the collection includes classic late 19th - early 20th century landscapes and portraits by Robert Henri, Daniel Garber, Gari Melchers, William McGregor Paxton, Robert Spencer, Philip Leslie Hale, and Charles Hawthorne, among distinguished others. Sculpture is represented by unique pieces by Anna Hyatt Huntington, Malvina Hoffman, Daniel Chester French, Victor Brenner, and Paul Manship.
Major modern and contemporary canvases by Larry Rivers, Will Barnet, Chen Chi, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Greg Wyatt, Kendall Shaw, Lois Dodd, and Carlos Quintana expand the scope of the collection. The collection also features an outstanding collection of works on paper from old masters to moderns including Rembrandt, Goya (a complete seventh edition of Los Caprichos), James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Joseph Fernand Henri Léger, Jane Wilson, Mary Frank, James Rosenquist, Lucas Samaras, and Claes Oldenberg.
In keeping with its goal of supporting research in American art, the club frequently loans works from the collection to scholarly exhibitions presented by institutions and galleries such as the Florence Griswold Museum; the Thomas Walsh Gallery, Fairfield University; the Trout Gallery, Dickinson College; the Society of Illustrators, New York; and Berry-Hill Galleries, New York.
Public programs
Events The club produces over 150 free public events per year, allowing the general public to get a broader understanding of the arts, in categories like architecture, archeology, fashion, photography, literary, music, theater, dance, and more.
Exhibitions The club hosts a rotating series of public art exhibitions in its galleries. Works by Keith Haring, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Lissa Rivera, Andy Warhol, and many other renowned artists have been featured in the space.
In December 2020, the Club presented Voices of the Soho Renaissance, the first exhibition of artwork born out of the calls for social justice which transformed New York City's Soho neighborhood, following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The show was followed by What Happened This Summer: ART2HEART, a second exhibition exploring the topic.
Other societies within the club Several smaller groups have existed within the National Arts Club:"National Arts Club records, 1898-1960", "Historical Note", Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, The Discus, a short-lived eating and debating club. The Vagabonds, a lunch group of writers, editors, printers, and illustrators. They met on Mondays in the grillroom of the club. Members included Leon Dabo, Walter Alden Dyer, Henry James Forman, Alexander Harvey, Forbes Lindsay, Mathias Sandor, Harry Peyton Steger, Ryan Walker, Edward Jewitt Wheeler,Who's Who in America, 1913, ss.vv. Theodore Dreiser, Benjamin De Casseres, Marius de Zayas,Wendy Wick Reaves, "Marius de Zayas: Spotlight on Personality", chapter 4 of Celebrity Caricatures in America, 1998, , p. 74 and Andrew Carnegie, who "humorously deplored the fact that he was not a vagabond".David Nasaw, Andrew Carnegie, 2007, , p. 697 In 1907, Harvey founded their magazine or pamphlet The Bang,Who's Who in America, 1914, s.v. Alexander Harvey, p. 1053 which was published weekly until December 1917.Harvard University Libraries, catalog record The Men's Open Table, 1910–1950s, weekly dinners with a speaker. The Women's Open Table
Membership Requirements for membership
From its very early days, the club differed from other social clubs. At its founding, the New York Times remarked: "This club differs from the others in several ways, especially in the fact that it has a very serious purpose, namely to encourage the arts side of American manufactures. On its social side, it presents an innovation in club life. It offers equal privileges to women, and has already over a hundred members of the gentler sex."
The club now has about 2,000 members who come from both the art world or are supporters of the arts. Members work in committees to organize events and exhibits that are available for free to the general public.
One of the unusual benefits of membership it that the club allows members access to a Gramercy Park key.
Reciprocal clubs The National Arts Club maintains reciprocal agreements with clubs worldwide, allowing members access to facilities when traveling.
Club City Country The Arts Club of Louisville Louisville, KY U.S. The Arts Club of Washington Washington, DC U.S. DACOR Bacon House Washington, DC U.S. The Cliff Dwellers Club Chicago, IL U.S. The Cosmos Club Washington, DC U.S. Grosse Pointe Club Grosse Pointe Farms, MI U.S. The Lenox Club Lenox, MA U.S. Philadelphia Art Alliance Philadelphia, PA U.S. Providence Art Club Providence, RI U.S. St. Botolph Club Boston, MA U.S. The Salmagundi Club New York, NY U.S. The Metropolitan Club San Francisco, CA U.S. Jonathan Club Los Angeles, CA U.S. The Union, University & Schools Club of Sydney Sydney Australia The Arts and Letters Club Toronto, ON Canada Saint James's Club of Montreal Montreal, QC Canada Calgary Petroleum Club Calgary, AB Canada The Arts Club London U.K. The Arts Club Dubai UAE Chelsea Arts Club London U.K. The Century Club London U.K. The Groucho Club London U.K. Sloane Club London U.K. The Travellers Club London U.K. Gleneagles Townhouse Edinburgh U.K. Glasgow Art Club Glasgow U.K. The United Arts Club Dublin Ireland El Círculo del Liceo La Rambla Barcelona Spain Círculo Eça de Queiroz Lisbon Portugal Club Lusitano Central Hong Kong The Pencil Club Umhlanga South Africa National Liberal Club London U.K.
Notable people
Members The National Arts Club is one of the few private clubs that has admitted women as full and equal members since its inception.