November 2012 Exhibitions N-Y Historical Society
NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
170 Central Park West, New York, NY (212) 873-3400
EXHIBITIONS
November 2012
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS:
Until May 27, 2013
When World War II broke out, New York was a cosmopolitan, heavily immigrant city, whose people had real stakes in the war and strongly held opinions. WWII & NYC will explore how New York and its metropolitan region contributed to victory in the Second World War, and how New Yorkers experienced and confronted the challenges of “total war.” The presence of troops, the inflow of refugees, the wartime industries, the dispatch of fleets, and the dissemination of news and propaganda from media outlets, changed New York, giving its customary commercial and creative bustle a military flavor. Likewise, the landscape of the city acquired a martial air, as defenses in the harbor were bolstered, old forts were updated, and the docks became high security zones. This grand consideration of the wartime metropolis will feature the compelling stories of those who experienced the war in a New York City context. The exhibition will range from the mobilization of workers to the frenzy of shipbuilding, from the home front arts and entertainment industry to the dispatch of troops to the European theater, from the struggles over Civil Rights and segregation to the Times Squarecelebration of V-J Day. These were the times that saw raucous men in uniform celebrating their last stateside moments, tearful families embracing their sons, women with lunch pails off to work, celebrity-studded bond rallies and calls for justice at home and abroad from African-American patriots. The exhibition will draw upon extensive collections at New-York Historical and on important loans from the US Navy, the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of WWII-Boston, the Mariners’ Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other institutions.
Until February 21, 2013
After a national tour, the forty-five iconic works, including Thomas Cole’s five-part series The Course of Empire and other masterworks by Cole, John F. Kensett, Albert Bierstadt, Jasper F. Cropsey, Asher B. Durand and others will once again be on display at the New-York Historical Society. "There is no better illustration of the life cycle of a great power than The Course of Empire...[Cole] beautifully captured a theory of imperial rise and fall to which most people remain in thrall to this day," said Niall Ferguson inForeign Affairs.
November 2, 2012 – February 18, 2013
John Rogers (1829–1904) was unquestionably the most popular sculptor of the 19th century. In his lifetime he sold over 80,000 works and earned the epithet “the people’s sculptor.” His plasters, known as “Rogersgroups,” vary in size from 21 to 48 inches high and were made in plaster, bronze and porcelain. These works carried on a deeply rooted American genre tradition that was popularized by painters such as William Sidney Mount and George Caleb Bingham. Rogers’ wide range of subjects included the Civil War, domestic life, popular theater and literary themes from Longfellow, Irving and Shakespeare. Rogers wished to make his sculptures available and affordable to the widest possible audience. He advertised extensively, established a factory for large-scale production, and took great pains to ship the finished pieces intact to locations all over the country. In an era when most Americans had little access to works of art, or even serviceable reproductions, Rogers groups were a commonplace in the homes of the middle and upper class. More than any other artist of his era, Rogers reached Americans en masse, addressing issues that shaped their lives and that defined the American experience. In addition to 40 plasters and master bronzes that he used to create the plasters, ephemeral materials from the New-York Historical Society Library and Print Room such as mail order catalogues, advertisements and stereograph views will vividly illustrate how his works were presented and promoted to the public. The exhibition will be enriched with a selection of paintings from the Historical Society’s acclaimed collection to show how Rogers carried on the American genre tradition
PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS
Explore 300 years of New York and American history through the eyes and lives of children of the past! TheDiMenna Children’s History Museum is a museum-within-a-museum and occupies the New-York Historical Society’s entire lower level. It includes character-based pavilions, a children’s library, a Whiz Bang Quiz Machine, and interactive exhibits and games. The DCHM encourages children to identify with the people whose enterprise and creativity changed the course of our history. All ages can enjoy and learn in DCHM, but the exhibits are targeted at age 8-13.
Dedicated to telling the story of America through the lens of New York, this new gallery features such works as a piece of ceiling from Keith Haring’s “Pop Shop;” Here is New York, a rotating selection from the approximately 6,200 photographs taken by the people of New York City on September 11, 2001, and immediately afterward; History Under Your Feet, an educational scavenger hunt for visitors featuring our “history manholes;” and Liberty/Liberté, an installation by New York-based artist Fred Wilson. This permanent installation provides an overview of New-YorkHistorical’s diverse collections and orients visitors to the experiences and exhibitions waiting deeper in the Museum.
Treasures of Shearith Israel
Objects and documents from the incomparable collection of Congregation Shearith Israel (established 1654), including manuscripts, maps, liturgical treasures, and historical artifacts, are featured in The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture.
The history of New York’s Jewish presence began in 1654 with the arrival of twenty-three refugees of Sephardic ancestry from Recife, Brazil. Soon after their arrival the group established a congregation, the first in North America. This foundation was the beginning of a rich legacy that has culminated in the growth of what is now one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, and, importantly, set the stage for the religious and ethnic diversity for which our city and nation are known.
INFORMATION HOTLINE:
ONLINE INFORMATION:
MUSEUM AND STORE HOURS:
Tuesday - Thursday: 10 am-6 pm
Friday: 10 am-8 pm (pay as you wish from 6 pm-8 pm)
Saturday: 10 am-6 pm
Sunday: 11 am-5 pm
MUSEUM ADMISSION:
Adults - $15
Teachers and Seniors - $12
Students - $10
Children (5-13)- $5
Children (4 and under) -free
