Mayor de Blasio wants to revamp the art collection at City Hall to spice up the mostly vanilla collection of portraits of historically prominent white men.
“The Mayor and First Lady believe the art at City Hall should reflect the vibrant diversity of New York City, and discussions on how to update the building’s collection to celebrate that diversity are underway,” Mayoral spokeswoman Marti Adams said Friday.
City Hall has an extensive collection of portraits by renowned artists such as Charles Wesley Jarvis, John Trumbull and John Vanderlyn.
There are portraits of past presidents, former mayors, military heros and others who had a significant connection to New York City.
The announcement angered art historians who said the move was a calculated politically correct move that would destroy an irreplaceable collection.
“You do not dismantle a major historical collection or remove it from the walls because it doesn’t appeal to your particular sense of taste or your particular idea of the city now!” fumed Michele Bogart, a former vice president of the Public Design Commission, which oversees the City Hall portrait collection.
“It’s an absolute disgrace to take the efforts of staff of the previous administration and basically spit on them.”
‘It’s an absolute disgrace to take the efforts of staff of the previous administration and basically spit on them.’
- Michele Bogart, former Public Design Commission VP
- Michele Bogart, former Public Design Commission VP
Discussions are underway for what will be a long-term project and no decisions have been made about what art would be removed and what art brought in, city hall officials said. This isn’t the first time City Hall’s monotone portrait collection has stirred up drama.
Then-incoming City Councilman Charles Barron said in 2001 that he wanted to toss out the Thomas Jefferson portrait and replace it with a bust of Malcolm X, calling the third president “a pedophile” who had a sexual relationship with his young slave Sally Hemings.
Barron also said at the time that he would seek legislation to line City Hall’s walls with portraits of black and Hispanic leaders – and reportedly even gave the incoming speaker a hammer and nails so he could hang portraits of the “brothers and sisters.”
Mayor Bloomberg liked the portraits just the way they are – a non-profit organization he founded raised $1.7 million to restore and conserve the collection of paintings in 2008.
Several portraits have already been taken down and stored as part of recent renovations, city officials said
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