Preview New-York Historical’s ‘Scenes of New York City’ Show

Photo: © David Hockney Photo Credit: Richard Schmidt

New York City has had a terrible few months — among the roughest in its history. But, as a reminder that this pandemic, too, will pass, and the city will endure, the New-York Historical Society is planning an exhibition of artworks depicting this metropolis, drawn from the collection of Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld, for next year. The Hirschfelds have donated 130 paintings, works on paper, and sculptures. There are works like Norman Rockwell’s Gramercy Park, ca. 1918, which captures a moment from his childhood; David Hockney’s View from the Mayflower Hotel, New York (Evening), 2002, that immortalizes the storied hotel overlooking Central Park which has since been replaced by a very expensive condominium; and Georgia O’Keeffe’s Study for “Brooklyn Bridge”, 1949, drawn around when she left the city to live in New Mexico. It includes works by 82 artists not currently represented in New-York Historical’s collection, such as Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Lyonel Feininger, Fernand Léger, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Mark Rothko, and Everett Shinn, as well as pieces from Marc Chagall, Isabel Bishop, Andy Warhol, among others. (Unmentioned is the fate of President Trump’s sketch of the Empire State Building, which Elie Hirschfeld bought for $16,000 at auction in 2017.) Here’s a taste.

Robert Henri, Snow in Central Park, 1902. Photo: New-York Historical Society, Promised Gift of Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection, Scenes of New York City

Norman Rockwell, Gramercy Park, ca. 1918. Photo: New-York Historical Society, Promised Gift of Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection, Scenes of New York City