This doorway over La Maison Francaise on Fifth Avenue at 50th Street symbolizes the friendship between America and France. It was created by the French sculptor Janniot and finished in 1933 during the depths of the Depression era. Gilded and intricate, it is one of the many decorations incorporated in the building facades. It was designed with the hope of attracting overseas investment and to entice tenants to newly built Rockefeller Plaza complex. Now it graces the opening of a somewhat generic retail space, but we are still reaping the benefit of the past's ambitious and very individual aesthetic depicting as much beauty and amity it was possible to pack into the finite area over an office building entrance. Full view here.
5 comments:
Thank goodness for the classicist past! I wonder how a nude on a building would pass by public comment these days! More's the pity. In this day and age of so-called freedom from puritanical pasts we seem more puritanical than previous generations about nudity in public art.
This is true and the thought crosses my mind whenever I see "public nudity".
I enjoy looking at sculptures a lot and this reminds me of italian artworks. Its very nice and looks very large.
What a gorgeous piece of art! It has an interesting style.
This artist did a lot of work in Paris, in the 20s and 30s also, and in Nice, he was very successful in his lifetime...
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