Designated a NYC landmark in 1985 and a
National Historic Landmark in 1987, Rockefeller Center's "city within a city" is the
world's largest privately owned business and entertainment complex. With
its prestigious shopping
and restaurants, an unrivaled collection of public art, NBC's Today
Show, ice skating
rink, Radio City Music
Hall, gardens, and the
annual Christmas
Tree,
Rockefeller Center is one of New York City's top sightseeing attractions. It is truly
an architectural and cultural marvel.
Located in midtown
Manhattan from 49th Street to 52nd Street between 5th and 7th Avenues, the land was
originally occupied by tenements and theaters. It was leased by Columbia University
to John D. Rockefeller, who planned to revitalize the area by building office
buildings and a new Metropolitan Opera House around a plaza. After the stock market
crash in 1929, the Metropolitan Opera could not afford to move in and Rockefeller
continued his project as a large commercial complex. The original 14 buildings on
12 acres of land was the first development where skyscrapers were designed as an
architecturally coordinated group. Rockefeller Center has expanded since its
inception and now incorporates 19 buildings on 22 acres. Rockefeller Center's
underground Concourse connects all the buildings and is also connected to the 6th
Avenue subway, which opened in 1940.
Art at Rockefeller Center
More than 100 murals, sculptures, and mosaics
by 39 different artists adorn Rockefeller Center. All of the artworks have humanistic
themes, such as progress through science, and technology and peace through
understanding. Two of the best known are
Prometheus, in the Sunken Garden, and
Atlas, in
front of the International Building.
The 18-foot high and eight-ton gilded bronze Prometheus
is one of most photographed sculptures in New York City. It was created by American
artist Paul Manship in 1934 and carved in the red granite wall behind it is a quote
from Greek dramatist Aeschylus, "Prometheus, Teacher in Every Art, Brought the Fire
That Hath Proved to Mortals a Means to Mighty Ends."
Atlas was a collaboration between artists Lee
Lawrie and Rene Paul Chambellan. The cast bronze sculpture is 15-feet high and sits
on a nine-foot granite pedestal. According to Greek mythology, Atlas was a
half-man, half-god giant who helped lead a war against Olympic gods. After his
defeat, Atlas was condemned to carry the world on his shoulders as punishment.
Atlas is one of Rockefeller Center's greatest Art Deco icons and has even been used
on U.S. postage stamps.
The ground floor of the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller boasts
a grand lobby decorated by Jose Maria Sert, in part replacing murals by Diego
Rivera, and Frank Brangwyn. In 1933 the Rockefellers commissioned Diego
Rivera to paint a mural for the lobby of the RCA building in Rockefeller Center.
"Man at the Crossroads" was to depict the social, political, industrial, and
scientific possibilities of the twentieth century. When Rivera refused to remove a
figure of Lenin from the painting, he was ordered to stop and
the painting was destroyed. That same year, Rivera used the money from the
Rockefellers to create a mural for the Independent Labor Institute that had Lenin
as its central figure.
Radio City
Music Hall is also a showcase for the interior design of Donald Deskey, who
hired some of the finest artists and craftsmen of the day to decorate the lobbies and
lounges. Every piece of furniture, swatch of wallpaper, side table, and ashtray was
commissioned expressly for Radio City Music Hall. Restored in 1999, the Music Hall
interiors are one of the world's greatest examples of Art Deco design.
Today, Rockefeller Center's annual art unveiling is a highly anticipated New York
City tradition. From great 20th century sculptor, Louise Bourgeois' bronze
Spiders spectacle, to Agnes Winter's Monument to Smile
exhibition, to Takashi Murakami's Reverse Double Helix display,
Rockefeller Center has been home to innovative and inspirational masterpieces.