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Tag: John Sloan

Celebrating Irish Heritage On the Town!

St. Patrick’s Day is finally upon us! While we deeply appreciate the cultural, political, social, religious, and economic heritage that the Irish have brought to our neighborhoods, let’s not forget the infusion of important gathering places and civic centers that the Irish brought to our shores: The Irish Pub. New York City’s drinking culture has […]

    VILLAGE VOICES: A New Interactive Art and History Exhibit

    Village Preservation is pleased to announce the launch of VILLAGE VOICES, an outdoor exhibition celebrating people, places, and moments from our neighborhoods’ history. VILLAGE VOICES will be an engaging installation of exhibit boxes displayed throughout our neighborhoods featuring photographs, artifacts, and recorded narration that will provide entertaining and illuminating insight into our momentous heritage. We are […]

    John Sloan: Village Visionary

    Many artists have been inspired by the scenes of life in New York City, particularly Lower Manhattan. But perhaps no artist captures the feeling of New York during the hot, heavy days of August like the painter John Sloan. Sloan was one of the leading figures of the “Ashcan School,” a loose collection of artists who […]

    Romany Marie’s, Feeding and Defining Village Bohemianism

    That village, the labyrinth of streets and lanes… into which those restless individuals seeking political or social or cultural change began settling after 1910 consisted mostly of buildings grown dingy since prosperous New Yorkers had begun moving northward…Marie was one of those newcomers. — Robert Schulman from Romany Marie, Queen of Greenwich Village Born and […]

    Dorothy Day

    “We need to change the system. We need to overthrow, not the government, as the authorities are always accusing the Communists [of conspiring to do], but this rotten, decadent, putrid industrial capitalist system which breeds such suffering in the whited sepulcher of New York.” Such are the words of the “radical Christian,” Dorothy Day, who […]

    Remembering the Arch (and other) Conspirators

    On January 23, 1917, poet Gertrude Drick, painters John Sloan and Marcel Duchamp, and actors Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis climbed to the top of Washington Square Arch. Drick read a declaration of independence for the “Free and Independent Republic of Washington Square” with the intent of having a neighborhood free from mainstream convention. 

    Ladies Like Beer Too

    This is an updated re-posting of a piece written by former GVSHP staffer Dana Schultz. Walk into McSorley’s Old Ale House today and you will see an equal mix of the genders enjoying a beer. It’s hard to imagine that for 116 years this would not have been the case, as women were not allowed […]

    The Ashcan School and the Beginnings of the Whitney

    The streetscapes and street life of New York City are some of the most robust sensorial experiences. From towering skyscrapers to bright flashing lights to pungent (sometimes fragrant) smells and blaring sounds, the city runs on energy. It has been said that if the United States were a car, New York City would be its […]

      The Flatirons of the Village and the East Village

      On September 20th, 1966, the Flatiron Building was designated a New York City landmark.  One of New York’s most beloved and iconic landmarks, the Flatiron Building is known for (among other things) its unique shape, formed by the intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue forming an acute angle amidst the otherwise right-angled, rectilinear street grid of Manhattan. […]

      Art in the Village: The Ashcan School

      The Ashcan School refers to a loosely knit group of urban realist painters based in New York City during the early 20th century. Founded by artist and teacher Robert Henri in Philadelphia around 1891, the movement attracted a gathering of newspaper illustrators including George Luks, John Sloan, William Glackens*, and Everett Shinn. Artists of the […]

      Our Irish Heritage

      The history of Greenwich Village is a history of immigration. Although the St. Patrick’s Day Parade as we know it follows an uptown route along 5th Avenue, the original Irish immigrants to New York were a major presence here in Greenwich Village and the East Village. From our office window we look out at the […]

      Looking Up: West 3rd Street

      The Looking Up series of posts explore the unique architectural and historical stories that can be discovered when we raise our gaze above the sidewalk, the storefront, and the second floor. In this week’s edition of Looking Up, we’re casting our gaze skyward on West 3rd Street to recall what was once up there – […]

        John Sloan’s Village

        Today marks the birthday of great Greenwich Village artist and chronicler of everyday life in Lower Manhattan John Sloan, born August 2, 1871. Sloan worked as an painter and illustrator, first in Pennsylvania, and then most notably in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. His work is now highly regarded, and he is considered […]

        Golden Swan Garden

        If you’re ever strolling along Sixth Avenue near the West 4th Street subway station – perhaps you are on your way to Washington Square Park, or going to get “a slice” – you might pass a small spot of trees just on the uptown side of the basketball courts. Slow down! I urge you to […]

        How Bohemians Got Their Name

        On April 17, 1423,  an event took place which, implausibly enough, lead to the creation of the modern notion — or at least nomenclature — of ‘bohemia.’ ‘Bohemian,’ as commonly used in the West for the last two centuries, means a person who lives an unconventional lifestyle, often with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, […]

        Historic Hotels of the Village

        A recent report by Crain’s New York that a number of hotels were opening in and around the Union Square area had us thinking here at Off the Grid about some historic Village hotels.

        Conspiracy Atop the Arch

        Ninety-six years ago today a group of artists gathered at the top of the Washington Square Arch. Poet Gertrude Drick, painters John Sloan (who drew the etching above) and Marcel Duchamp, and Provincetown Playhouse actors Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis got into the arch and up the spiral staircase through an unlocked door. […]

        A Greenwich Village Artifact in Texas

        We love receiving research queries here at GVSHP, but never more so than when the person asking the question has something to tell us. So we were quite pleased to receive an inquiry from a curator at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, who wanted to know the history of […]