827-831 Broadway Buildings
831 Broadway | Greenwich Village | built 1867
Open on the map8 entries
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.
- 1958
Willem de Kooning rents the top floor of 831 Broadway and has it reworked as a light-filled studio
Late in 1958 Willem de Kooning moved into the top-floor loft at 831 Broadway and supervised the work of fitting it out for his painting. His biographers link a shift to brighter color and to abstract rural landscapes, such as Door to the River (1960), to the light in the new space. It was the last of his New York homes before he moved permanently to a house built for him in East Hampton.
“In late 1958, de Kooning rented the fourth- floor apartment at 831 Broadway and oversaw its interior renovation to suit his practice.”
- 1962
A photographer spends ten days with de Kooning at 831 Broadway and catches the moment he learns Franz Kline has died
In 1962 the photographer Dan Budnik worked with Willem de Kooning for ten days in his Broadway studio, which he remembered as a dream workspace with skylights, white walls and a polished wood floor. Budnik's images there include Action Painting, 831 Broadway, showing the artist at work in vivid ochre, and an intimate portrait made as de Kooning was told that Franz Kline had died.
“…an intimate portrait taken at the moment when de Kooning was given the news of artist Franz Kline's death…”
- 1963
Paul Jenkins takes over de Kooning's fourth-floor loft at 831 Broadway and paints there until 2000
In 1963 Paul Jenkins took the top-floor apartment at 831 Broadway from Willem de Kooning, after three years in a small studio at 537 East 12th Street. He kept it until his lease expired in 2000. Jenkins painted thin washes of acrylic across primed canvases, guiding them with an ivory knife, and tilted the canvases to let the pigments flow.
“In 1963, he rented the fourth- floor apartment at 831 Broadway from William de Kooning and painted there until the expiration of his lease in 2000.”
- 1964
The short film The Ivory Knife, about Paul Jenkins, is partly shot at 831 Broadway
The 1965 documentary short The Ivory Knife: Paul Jenkins at Work was shot in part in Jenkins's studio at 831 Broadway during 1964. MoMA screened it, and it won a Golden Eagle Award at the Venice International Film Festival. Jenkins also painted Phenomena 831 Broadway while living in the loft.
“The 1965 documentary short film The Ivory Knife: Paul Jenkins at Work, was partly filmed at 831 Broadway in 1964…”
- 1967
MoMA curator William Rubin has Richard Meier turn his 831 Broadway loft into a salon for artists and their work
In 1967 William S. Rubin, a Museum of Modern Art curator who later ran its painting and sculpture department, commissioned architect Richard Meier to renovate his fourth-floor apartment at 831 Broadway. It held paintings by de Kooning, Jenkins, Larry Poons and Jules Olitski, all of whom lived in the pair of buildings at one time or another, beside works by Pollock, Rothko and Kline. Vogue featured the loft, and Rubin rotated the art on view there.
“In 1967, Rubin commissioned architect Richard Meier to renovate the interior…”
- 1974
Larry Poons moves into William Rubin's former loft at 831 Broadway, and his paint covers the floor
In 1974 Larry Poons rented the apartment William Rubin had left at 831 Broadway, and he and his wife, the painter Paula DeLuccia Poons, were still there when the landmark report was written. He splashed, poured and threw paint, sometimes on a roll of canvas hung from a circular frame. In a 2015 interview he said the whole room had become a painting.
“In 1974, Poons rented William S. Rubin's former apartment at 831 Broadway, where he and his wife, painter Paula DeLuccia Poons, remain…”
- 1978
An Unmarried Woman shoots scenes in Paul Jenkins's studio at 831 Broadway
Parts of the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman were shot at 831 Broadway, where Paul Jenkins's work and studio stood in for those of the film's fictional artist. The loft drew artists and dignitaries; at a party Jenkins gave for France's first lady, Danielle Mitterrand, the guests included Paloma Picasso, Robert Motherwell and Berenice Abbott.
“Portions of the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman, in which Jenkins' work and studio stood in for those of a fictional artist, were shot at 831 Broadway.”
- 2000
Paul Jenkins leaves 831 Broadway and takes the armoire Willem de Kooning painted blue, yellow and pink
When his lease ended in 2000, Paul Jenkins took with him a huge armoire where he kept his studio books. Willem de Kooning had built it while living in the loft and painted it blue, yellow and pink, and the two artists had agreed Jenkins would keep it. Jenkins was also a regular customer of the Strand bookstore across the street, which dedicated a window to him after his death in 2012.
“Jenkins took it with him on his departure from 831 Broadway in 2000…”
Nearby
- 827-831 Broadway Buildings827 Broadway | 9 entries
- Abrahams Magazine Service Building56 East 13th Street | 5 entries
- 37 East 12th Street5 entries
- 840 Broadway Building840 Broadway | 8 entries
- 832-834 Broadway Building832 Broadway | 7 entries
- The Roosevelt Building841 Broadway | 11 entries