Grand Central Terminal, one of the main railroad stations inNew York City, featurespublic art by a variety of artists. Through its status as a transportation and architectural icon, the terminal has also been depicted in many works of art.
Grand Central features permanent works of art, including the celestial ceiling in theMain Concourse, theGlory of Commerce work and the statue ofCornelius Vanderbilt in front of the building's south facade, and the two cast-iron eagle statues adorning the terminal's facades. As well, Vanderbilt Hall is regularly used for temporary art exhibitions and events. The Dining Concourse has a series oflightboxes also used to display temporary art exhibits. The terminal is also known for itsperformance andinstallation art, includingflash mobs and other spontaneous events.
TheGlory of Commerce sculptural group rests atop the terminal's facade, directly above abroken pediment featuring a large clock.[1] The work is also known asProgress with Mental and Physical Force orTransportation. It is about 48 feet (15 m) tall, 66 feet (20 m) wide, and weighs about 1,500short tons (1,400 t).[1][2] At its unveiling in 1914, the work was considered the largest sculptural group in the world.[3][4][5]
The work includes representations ofMinerva,Hercules, andMercury.[3][6] The sculptures were designed by French sculptorJules-Félix Coutan and carved by the John Donnelly Company.[3] Coutan created the model in his Paris studio and shipped it to New York City later.[7][8]
Mercury is standing at the top center of the work, depicted traditionally with acaduceus and wearing a winged helmet, with loose drapery concealing otherwise complete nudity. He is standing in acontrapposto pose in front of an eagle, wings outstretched, peering around his right leg. Two other gods are depicted to Mercury's left and right: the male figure to his right is typically and officially deemed to be Hercules, though he lacks the god's characteristic club and lionskin. Instead, the god is depicted among an anchor, cogwheel, anvil and hammer, a beehive, grapes, wheat ears and a sickle. Many of these are symbols ofVulcan, who is depicted with Minerva and Mercury in other works. He is also nearly naked, staring at Mercury above him. The female figure, Minerva, is resting her head on her left arm, looking down at a roll of parchment on her lap. She is depicted among a globe, a measuring compass, volumes of books and thick wreaths of laurel.[1]
The work is seen as attempting to fulfill several goals: portraying the terminal itself as a new technology, representing the Vanderbilt family, and serving as an artistic piece to parallel European art and architecture of the time.[1]
There is a 13-foot-wide (4.0 m) clock on top of the south facade. It was installed in 1914 by theSelf Winding Clock Company. The clock face has decorative stained glass framed in bronze, with cast-iron clock hands, the latter weighing 340 lbs.[9][10] The center of the clock features a circular panel with a sunburst design.[11] The glass work also features twelveRoman numerals to designate the time; its numeral "IIII" is traditional for clock faces displaying the number four, instead of the more common "IV".[12] The numeral "VI", on the bottom of the clock, hides a flap that is used for maintenance.[13][14] The clock mechanics are accessed via several ladders, reached from a door in the Operations Control Center. Access requires security clearance, limiting the number of visitors; these select few traditionally write their names on the clock room walls in permanent markers.[15]
The clock has a "Tiffany-style" design.[16] Despite modern sources describing the clock as a work ofTiffany Studios orTiffany & Co., the work is unsigned, and the latter company could not confirm the claim.[17] Most sources that describe the clock in detail do not label it a Tiffany piece, and books published by the Tiffany companies make no mention of the clock.[18] Tiffany Studios was employed to create metalwork for the terminal in the 1900s, though clockwork and glass were attributed to numerous other contractors.[19]
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A statue ofCornelius Vanderbilt, longtime owner of the New York Central, stands at the center of the terminal's south facade, directly below its clock and facing thePark Avenue Viaduct. The work was sculpted byErnst Plassmann, and is of bronze, 8.5 feet (2.6 m) tall and weighing 4 tons, with a 9-foot-tall granite pedestal.[20][21] It depicts Vanderbilt bareheaded and in his commonly-seen winter clothes, including a heavy double-breasted and fur-trimmed overcoat.[22] He is posed in a noble way, described asJeffersonian, with one hand on his chest and another outstretched. It was the largest bronze statue cast in the United States at the time.[22]
The statue was created as part of a bronzebas-relief on the facade of theHudson River Railroad depot atSt. John's Park in the present-day neighborhood ofTribeca.[23] The bas-relief was 150-foot (46 m) long and depicted various components of Vanderbilt's life, including his steamships and trains. The relief and statue were generally designed by Albert De Groot, a steamship captain under Vanderbilt, though they were sculpted by Plassmann.[21]
Unveiled and dedicated in November 1869,[21] the works received much criticism from newspapers and other writers;[24] theNew York Times said such a tribute ought to include "the dismembered bodies of men, women and children" killed in the New York Central's open railyards to the north.[25]
This criticism may have convinced Vanderbilt to abandon his plans for another statue of himself, to have been installed atGrand Central Depot, which was built in 1871. The planned statue was to have been part of a grouping designed by De Groot with a sailor at one side and Native American at the other.[21]
In 1929, Plassmann's statue was moved to Grand Central Terminal.[22] Once again, it received criticism in the press.[24]
Grand Central Terminal has two cast-iron eagle statues on display. The eagles weigh about 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) each, have a wingspan of about 13 feet (4.0 m),[26] and are perched on stone spheres.[27]
They are two of the 11 or 12 eagle statues that ornamented the terminal's predecessor, Grand Central Station.[28] In 1910, when the station was demolished to build Grand Central Terminal, the eagles were dispersed throughout the city and New York state. By 1913, two were at thePhilipse Manor station inSleepy Hollow, New York, one was on the lawn of a wealthy resident of Mount Vernon, and the rest were on other estates, purchased from wreckers or taken from those with influence over the railroads.[27]
The two eagles that sit atop the terminal were donated to the MTA around the turn of the 21st century. One had stood for years in a backyard inBronxville, New York; in 1999, it was placed atop the Lexington Avenue entrance to Grand Central Market. The other was at a monastery inGarrison, New York (the present-dayGarrison Institute), and was installed in 2004 at the terminal's southwest entrance by Vanderbilt Avenue and 42nd Street.
Eight identical eagle statues are elsewhere, including one at a private home inKings Point, New York; one at theSpace Farms Zoo and Museum inBeemerville, New Jersey; two at theVanderbilt Museum in Long Island; one, known as the "Shandaken Eagle", inPhoenicia, New York; two atSaint Basil Academy in Garrison; and one at the Philipse Manor station in Sleepy Hollow.[26] One or two of Grand Central Station's eagles remain lost.[28]
New York City's formerPenn Station was adorned with 22 eagle sculptures, many of which were similarly dispersed across the United States after the building's demolition.[26]
TheMain Concourse's ceiling is an ellipticalbarrel vault.[29] Afalse ceiling of square boards, installed in 1944, bears an elaboratecelestial mural painted with more than 2,500 stars and several bands in gold set against a turquoise backdrop.[30][31] This ceiling covers the original 1913 version, which had degraded because of water damage.
Original plans called for the ceiling to contain a skylight, but money and time ran out.[32] Instead, a mural was painted directly on the ceiling. It was conceived in 1912 by architect Warren and painterPaul César Helleu. The latter, who had come to the United States for a three-month stay to create portraits of eight women for a Parisian magazine, sketched a conceptual design for Warren.[33] Helleu worked from a chart given byColumbia University astronomy professorHarold Jacoby, who had derived it from theUranometria, a scientifically accurate star atlas published in 1603.[34][35] The mural was painted in 1913 byJames Monroe Hewlett andCharles Basing of Hewlett-Basing Studio. They were assisted in the design by Helleu[36] and multiple astronomers,[37][38][39] and in the painting by more than 50 painting assistants.[33] Around 63 electric bulbs were installed to amplify the visual impact of the stars.[33][30] The depicted constellations include those of the winterzodiac viewable from January to June, fromAquarius toCancer.[19] Also depicted arePegasus,Triangulum Majus andMinus,Musca Borealis, andOrion,[40] as well as two broad gold bands spanning the ceiling, representing theecliptic and theequator.[19] Triangulum Minus (not present on the original mural, but added in 1944) and Musca Borealis are the only constellations not taken from theUranometria.[41][42]
By the 1920s, the roof began to leak, damaging the mural with water and mold. Over the next two decades, the mural "faded to a hue something like that of a khaki shirt overdosed with Navy blue". In August 1944, New York Central covered the original ceiling with 4-by-8-foot cement-and-asbestos boards and painted them in a facsimile of the original mural. Unveiled in June 1945, the new mural contained less astronomical detail;[42] it also lacked light bulbs to mimic stars.[43] The boards' outlines remain visible today.[37][38][39]
By the 1980s, the new ceiling was obscured by decades of grime. The dirt buildup was sometimes reported to be tar andnicotine from tobacco smoke,[37] or diesel or coal soot from the trains in the terminal's train shed (though trains have utilized electric power in Manhattan since 1908[44]).Spectroscopic examination revealed that it was made up of air pollutants from trucks and cars as well as soot and contaminants from incinerators and factories.[45] As a general renovation of the terminal got underway, historians and preservationists called for the 1944 boards to be removed and the original ceiling mural restored. ButBeyer Blinder Belle, the architecture firm that led the renovation, deemed the original mural irreversibly damaged and noted that theasbestos-laden boards would be hazardous to remove. So, starting in September 1996, the ceiling boards were cleaned and repainted.[38][46] Lights were installed into the ceiling boards to imitate the stars, restoring a feature previously only seen from 1913 to 1944.[43] A single dark patch near the crab constellation (representingCancer)[47] was left untouched by renovators to remind visitors of the grime that once covered the ceiling.[37][48]
The ceiling bears a small dark circle amid the stars above the image ofPisces. In a 1957 attempt to improve public morale after theSoviet Union launchedSputnik, an AmericanRedstone missile was set up in the Main Concourse. With no other way to erect the missile, a hole was cut into the 1944 false ceiling to allow a cable to be lowered to lift the rocket into place.[49] Historical preservation dictated that this hole remain as a reminder of the many uses of the Terminal over the years.[14]
The starry ceiling contains several astronomical inaccuracies. The entire artwork is reversed left-to-right from theUranometria and the night sky, except for the Orion constellation.[50] There are various explanations that are often given for this error.[33][32] One possible explanation is that the overall ceiling design might have been based on the medieval custom of depicting the sky as it would appear to God looking in at thecelestial sphere from outside, but that would have reversed Orion as well. A more likely explanation is partially mistaken transcription of the sketch supplied by Harold Jacoby, the explanation Jacoby gave when the issue was brought to him. Jacoby surmised that Basing had placed the sketch at his feet, rather than holding it up toward the ceiling, when copying its details.[32] Though the astronomical inconsistencies were noticed promptly by a commuter within a month of the station's opening,[50] they have not been corrected in any of the subsequent renovations of the ceiling.[37][39] Postcards printed before the terminal's opening show the ceiling artwork correctly.[35]
The Graybar Passage extends from the northeast corner of the Main Concourse, underneath theGraybar Building, directly east to Lexington Avenue.[51] The ceiling is composed of sevengroin vaults, each of which has an ornamental bronze chandelier. One of the vaults features a mural depicting American transportation.[52] The work was painted in 1927 by muralistEdward Trumbull. The first two vaults viewed from leaving Grand Central featuredcumulus clouds, while the third remains, featuring technologies that had significantly affected the world. These include a train pulled by an electric locomotive, a bridge resembling the original design of the city'sHigh Bridge, the construction of a skyscraper, the manufacturing of steel, and several airplanes (including theSpirit of St. Louis) along with a searchlight and radio tower. The mural has a caramel color; the once-bright colors present have faded over time.[53] Originally, every vault in the passage ceiling was to be painted similarly to the existing work, though project funding fell short during theGreat Depression.[15]
Sirshasana, an aluminum and polyester resin sculpture with crystals, was created byDonald Lipski in 1998. The sculpture hangs from the ceiling of Grand Central Market just inside its 43rd Street entrance. The chandelier has the shape of an olive tree, with branches spanning 25 feet and featuring 5,000 crystal pendants. The base of the tree is finished in gold and crystals, in place of olives. The sculpture is named after a headstand posture inyoga: the inverted tree. The work alludes to Grand Central's decorative chandeliers, and is a "comment on the allure of the exotic and tempting wares sold in the marketplace".[54]
As Above, So Below, a work of glass, bronze, and mosaic in several Grand Central North passageways, was made by Brooklyn-based artistEllen Driscoll in 1998. The mosaic's five scenes, each stemming from a different continent, depict myths and legends about the heavens that reflect life on Earth. The work reminds passengers of humanity's spiritual and worldly past. Like the terminal's astronomical ceiling, it symbolizes the connection to the wider world and heavens.[55][56]
A Field of Wild Flowers, a mural on the walls of the Station Master's Office, was made by Roberto Juarez in 1997. The work uses many materials to give texture, strength, and beauty. Layers includegesso, under-painting,urethane, and varnish, along with rice paper and a dusting of peat moss. It depicts a bountiful garden landscape as viewed though windows of a slow-moving train. It repeats some of Grand Central's architectural details, including fruit, acorns, and garlands.[57]
In the Grand Central Theatre or Terminal Newsreel Theatre, now one of the retail areas of the Graybar Passage and currently the alcohol vendor Central Cellars, the movie theater lobby had walls covered with large world maps and an astronomical mural painted by Tony Sarg.[58] The theater opened in 1937 and operated for about 30 years before being gutted for retail space.[59] A renovation in the early 2000s removed a false ceiling, revealing the theater's astronomical mural (similar in colors and style to the Main Concourse ceiling) and projection window.[28]
The Dining Concourse has 16lightboxes that form aquadriptych.MTA Arts & Design maintains a rotating art exhibition in the space.[60] The first non-photographic exhibit in the space wasOn Paper/ Grand Central at 100, which was created for the terminal's centennial and was displayed from September 2013 to September 2014.[60][61][62][63] It featured four works by contemporary and internationalpaper cut artists: Thomas Witte'sCutting Shadows, Xin Song'sTime · Light · Gate · Clock, Laura Cooperman'sOverhead, and Rob Ryans'There Is Only Time. The works use themes from Grand Central's architecture and grandeur, and family memories.[62]
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As of 2019[update], the space features "Landmark City", a photographic exhibit by Marc Yankus. The exhibit shows New York City landmarks, altered to appear on empty streets.[64]
Grand Central Terminal has held a number of special exhibits, including:
The Main Concourse andVanderbilt Hall frequently host special exhibits and events. These include:
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The terminal hosts numerous performances. It is also a host site forMusic Under New York, where musicians can perform within various transit hubs controlled by the MTA. In Grand Central, artists can perform in the Graybar Passage as well as in the Dining Concourse, opposite Tracks 105 and 106.[79] Auditions for the program take place each spring in the terminal's Vanderbilt Hall.[80]
Beginning during the Christmas season of 1928 and continuing on certain holidays until 1958, an organist performed in Grand Central's North Gallery. The organist was Mary Lee Read, who initially performed on a borrowedHammond organ. Grand Central management eventually bought an organ and a set of chimes for the station and began paying Read an annual retainer.[81] In addition to the weeks before Christmas, Read played during the weeks before Thanksgiving and Easter and on Mother's Day. On one Easter, a choir composed ofWorks Progress Administration employees performed with her.[81] Following theattack on Pearl Harbor, she attempted to lift spirits by playing "The Star-Spangled Banner", which brought the main concourse to a standstill. The stationmaster subsequently asked her to avoid selections that would cause passengers to miss their trains, and Read became known as the only organist in New York who was forbidden to play theUnited States' national anthem.[81]
In 2018,Paul McCartney gave a private concert in the terminal on the premiere date of his new albumEgypt Station, with guests includingJon Bon Jovi,Meryl Streep,Amy Schumer,Kate Moss andSteve Buscemi.[82] In February 2020, South Korean pop groupBTS staged a live performance of their song, "ON", at the Main Concourse.[83]
Grand Central is one of the most-photographed places in New York City and the United States. A 2009 Cornell University study mapping out geotagged photos worldwide indicated the building was the fourth most photographed in New York City.[84]
One of the most famous photographs of the terminal shows light streaming from Main Concourse windows down to the floor. The work is reproduced online through hundreds of different images, with variations in angles, cropping, flipping, filters, and watermarks, as well as the author and date attributed to the works. PhotographerPenelope Umbrico collected a sample of such images inFour Photographs of Rays of Sunlight in Grand Central, on display in the terminal's Dining Concourse.[85]
Paintings depicting Grand Central include:
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