Village Preservation and the Salmagundi Club: A Partnership in Programming
The Salmagundi Club has championed the visual arts in our neighborhood since its founding in 1871. Created by artists and patrons, the club serves to support painters and art enthusiasts, hosting exhibitions, lectures, painting demonstrations, classes, and auctions. The club moved to its permanent home at 47 Fifth Avenue in 1917, where it has been located ever since.
The Italianate brownstone building that houses Salmagundi was originally built as a mansion for railroad and coal magnate Irad Hawley in 1852-53. Unlike the many other Fifth Avenue mansions around No. 47 that have since been demolished, this building stands relatively untouched, both on its exterior and interior. This is thanks to both the care and dedication of the Salmagundi Club, as well as the landmark designation of the site, which was approved on September 9, 1969.
Today we will look at one of Village Preservation’s many connections to 47 Fifth Avenue and the Salmagundi Club — the many programs that we host at the historic site, including program videos linked below.
Art in the Village: The Beginnings of the Salmagundi Club
Program Date: October 29, 2024
Speaker: Alexander Katlan
Watch the program recording here
The Salmagundi Club. How did this famed Greenwich Village institution get its start? This talk discusses the formation and the early years of the Salmagundi Club from 1871 to 1917, including the open public exhibitions and discusses the interaction of the Salmagundi Club with the early artists and art community in Greenwich Village.
The talk includes the history of the locations of the Salmagundi Club as it moved from local village studios to the later clubhouses.
Discussion also includes the formation of the early exhibitions that were open to the public, local artists, men and women, and not just club members. There are examples of Salmagundi Club art from the archives that are rarely seen by the public.
Historic Preservation: Past and Future
Program Date: November 26, 2024
Speakers: Andrew Berman in conversation with Carl Raymond
Watch the program recording here
Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Village Preservation, was joined in conversation by Carl Raymond, host of The Gilded Gentleman history podcast. In this program, Andrew discusses his career in historic preservation over the past 22 years. He shares several case studies of projects that have met with success as well as challenges in the preservation of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. In addition, Andrew discusses some of the issues facing historic preservation in the current environment, as well as some simple yet deeply powerful actions passionate local preservationists can do to make a difference.
Mondrian, the Man Who Loved New York
Program Date: March 11, 2025
Speaker: Nicholas Fox Weber
Watch the program recording here
This program features Nicholas Fox Weber, who discusses his new biography, Mondrian: His Life, His Art, His Quest for the Absolute.
In the early 1920s, surrounded by the roaring streets of avant-garde Paris, Piet Mondrian began creating what would become some of the most recognizable abstract paintings of the 20th century. With rectangles of primary colors against a dazzling white background, this was geometric abstraction in its purest form. These revolutionary compositions exhilarated, intoxicated, confused, and enraged the international public—and changed the course of modern art forever.
Last Ships from Hamburg
Program Date: May 6, 2025
Speaker: Steven Ujifusa
Watch the program recording here
From 1890 to 1921, 2.5 million Jews fled discrimination and violence in Eastern Europe. Many settled on the Lower East Side and today’s East Village. How such migration was possible is complicated. It would have been impossible except for the unusual collaboration of three titans of business: Jacob Schiff, Albert Ballin, and J.P. Morgan.
In this program, Steven Ujifusa presents the fascinating, little-known facts about the Jewish exodus that spared millions from persecution.
Upcoming Programs at The Salmagundi Club
The Birth of New York City
Program Date: September 23, 2025
Speaker: James Nevius
Marking the 400th Anniversary of New York’s birth, James Nevius — whose family arrived in Manhattan when it was still New Amsterdam — will explore the foundations of the city, from Henry Hudson’s ill-fated voyage up the river that now bears its name through the eventual Dutch surrender to English forces in 1664.
Along the way, we’ll talk about the importance of 1625 in the city’s mythology and explore what it was like to live on the Dutch frontier in the 17th century.
Making the Case for Landmarking:
Why Preservation Makes Sense in NYC in 2025
Program Date: September 30, 2025
Speakers: Andrew Berman in conversation with Dena Tasse-Winter and Juan Rivero
Join us for a conversation with Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman, in which we’ll hear why preservation matters and should be a cornerstone of planning for our city’s future, and why plans for unbridled development almost never bring the promised results.
Andrew will be interviewed and joined in the conversation by Dena Tasse-Winter and Juan Rivero. They’ll examine issues ranging from how landmarking works and why it benefits everyone from owners and tenants to the general public, to small business retention and housing affordability, and how they interact with preservation. Q & A to follow.
These past and upcoming programs just scratch the surface of the 80+ programs that Village Preservation presents each year. To learn more about our programming, CLICK HERE. To watch all of our past program recordings, CLICK HERE.
To learn more about 47 Fifth Avenue and dive deeper into the history of lower Fifth Avenue, check out our recently published Fifth Avenue Map.