Silver Center, former home of the Grey Art Gallery
82 Washington Square East | also 36 Washington Place | Greenwich Village | built 1900
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1835
NYU's University Building stands here from 1835, home to artists such as Samuel F. B. Morse and Winslow Homer
From 1835 to 1892 the University Building, New York University's original home, stood on this site on Washington Square. Artists including Samuel F. B. Morse and Winslow Homer worked there. The Grey Art Museum says Morse started the country's first academic fine arts department at the site.
Source: greyartmuseum.nyu.edu
- 1892
The University Building is replaced by the Main Building, later renamed the Silver Center
In 1892 the University Building was demolished and the Main Building took its place. NYU renamed it the Silver Center in 2002. The university's art museum, first known as the Grey Art Gallery, was housed there for nearly 50 years until its 2024 move to Cooper Square.
Source: greyartmuseum.nyu.edu
- 1927
Albert Eugene Gallatin opens his Gallery of Living Art in a study hall of NYU's main building
In December 1927 the collector Albert Eugene Gallatin opened the Gallery of Living Art in the main building's south study hall, on Washington Square. The opening show had works by twenty-four American and French artists, with fifteen borrowed works shown alongside forty-three of Gallatin's own, and admission was free.
“The gallery opened in December 1927 in the south study hall of that university's main building on Washington Square; admission was free.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1942
NYU orders Gallatin to close his museum, and 175 works go to Philadelphia
In 1942 NYU told Gallatin to close his Museum of Living Art, as the name had become in 1936, citing a wartime economy measure. He accepted an offer from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and within a few months 175 works moved there. A few others went to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1975
The Grey Art Gallery and Study Center opens after a gift from collector Abby Weed Grey
Funded by a gift from the collector Abby Weed Grey, NYU renovated its space in the old Main Building, added offices and collection storage, and in 1975 reopened it as the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center. The gallery is steward of the NYU Art Collection, which was founded in 1958 and has amassed nearly 7,000 objects.
Source: greyartmuseum.nyu.edu
- 1983
The Grey Art Gallery mounts the first major Frida Kahlo exhibition in the United States
In 1983 the Grey Art Gallery became the first U.S. institution to present a major Frida Kahlo exhibition. The show, titled Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti, was organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
“In 1983, Grey Art Gallery was the first organization in the United States to show a major Frida Kahlo exhibit.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1989
The Grey shows the early art of Andy Warhol in 'Success Is a Job in New York'
From March 14 to April 29, 1989, the Grey Art Gallery showed Success Is a Job in New York, an exhibition on the early art and business career of Andy Warhol. The Grey and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh organized it, and it later won the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award in 1991.
“Success Is a Job in New York: The Early Art and Business of Andy Warhol... on view March 14-April 29, 1989…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2024
The Grey leaves the Silver Center for a larger space at 18 Cooper Square and becomes a museum
In 2024 the Grey left the Silver Center for 18 Cooper Square in NoHo, a larger and more visible space with 40 percent more exhibition space. The move was partly funded by a gift from Dr. James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett, and the institution was renamed the Grey Art Museum.
Source: greyartmuseum.nyu.edu
Further reading
- Grey Art MuseumWikipedia
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