Hispanic Society of America
 Grounds of the Hispanic Society of America, with an equestrian statue of El Cid. | |
  Location of the Hispanic Society in New York City | |
| Established | May 18, 1904 |
|---|---|
| Location | New York, New York |
| Type | Art museum Research library |
| Collection size | 6,800 paintings 1,000 sculptures 175,000 photographs 250,000 books |
| Visitors | 20,000 |
| Director | Mitchell Codding |
| Public transit access | Subways:  at 157th StreetBuses: Bx6, M4, M5, M100 |
| Website | www |
The Hispanic Society of America is a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. (Despite the name and the founder's intention, it has never functioned as a learned association.) Founded in 1904 by Archer M. Huntington, the institution is free and open to the public at its original location in a Beaux Arts building on Audubon Terrace (at 155th Street and Broadway) in the lower Washington Heights area of New York City in the United States.[1] The campus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
In April, 2015 the Society announced the appointment of Philippe de Montebello to chair the Society's Board of Overseers and spearhead a major effort to roughly double the museum's size by renovating the now-vacant, adjacent, Beaux Arts, former building of the Museum of the American Indian.[2]
Exterior sculpture at the society includes work by Anna Hyatt Huntington and nine major reliefs by the Swiss-American sculptor Berthold Nebel, a commission that took ten years to complete.
Museum collections
The museum contains works by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, El Greco, and Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, among others.
A major component of this museum is the Sorolla Room which was reinstalled in 2010. It displays the 14 massive paintings, the Visions of Spain, that Sorolla created from 1911 to 1919—commissioned by Archie Huntington. These magnificent paintings ring the large room (estimate: 50 ft square) and depict scenes from each of the provinces of Spain.
The rare books library maintains 15,000 books printed before 1700, including a first edition of Don Quijote. It also holds the manuscript Black Book of Hours Horae Beatae Virginis Mariae ad usum Romanum (c. 1458), one of only a handful of such works.
See also
- Hispanism
- Hispanist
- List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 110th Street
References
- ^ Lee, Felicia R. (November 11, 2011). "An Outpost for Old Spain in the Heights". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
The Hispanic Society of America is perhaps New York's most misunderstood institution.
- ^ Catton, Pia (20 April 2015). "New Chairman Hopes to Boost Profile of Often-Overlooked Museum". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2013) |
Further reading
- List of Printed Books in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America. 1910 – via HathiTrust. (20 volumes, arranged alphabetically by author)
- Clara Louisa Penney, ed. (1929). List of Books Printed Before 1601 in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America – via HathiTrust. (fulltext)
External links
- Official website
- A Collection in Context: The Hispanic Society of America by the Media Center for Art History, Columbia University
- Washington Heights, Manhattan
- Art museums established in 1904
- Libraries in Manhattan
- Society museums in New York
- Art museums in New York City
- Museums in Manhattan
- Latino museums in the United States
- Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York City
- Portuguese-American culture in New York City
- Spanish-American culture in New York City
- 1904 establishments in New York
- American Hispanists
- National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan
- Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan