My Art Studio is in NoMad

NoMad stands for "North of Madison Square Park." It is the Manhattan neighborhood bordered by East 25th Street to the south, East 30th Street to the north, Sixth Avenue to the west, and Madison and Lexington Avenues to the east. Experience NoMad through the eyes of an artist.

The Churchill Tavern is right on my block at 45 East 28th Street. I understand they even play Churchill’s speeches in the bathroom! Interestingly, Winston Churchill’s grandparents lived nearby at 41 East 26th Street. Churchill himself turned to painting when his political career hit a rough patch, continuing to paint well into his old age.

My tour of NoMad continues with the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, between East 25th and 26th Streets. I am drawing your attention to this edifice, not simply because it is an imposing Beaux-Arts building, but because it was here in 1913 that New Yorkers were first introduced to Modern Art. The International Exhibition of Modern Art held at the Armory included works by American and European artists such as Courbet, Degas, Manet, Duchamp, Matisse, and Picasso. Reviews of the European artists were far from favorable—they were charged with immorality, insanity, quackery, and even anarchy. President Theodore Roosevelt simply declared that these works were "not art."

Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase was widely panned and satirized. One critic famously described the avant-garde painting as "an explosion in a shingle factory."

Here is another unmissable place in NoMad: the Oscar Wilde Restaurant and Bar at 45 West 27th Street is home to Victorian nostalgia. I especially like their statement:

Oscar Wilde turns the Victorian Era on its head - without relinquishing any of its glamour. Just like Wilde himself, we believe life should be lived to its fullest, with a touch of sophisticated debauchery. Why miss out on the fun? We encourage living it to the fullest with Wilde abandon.

NoMad is also home to jaw-dropping historic buildings. The James New York, located on the corner of 29th Street and Madison Avenue, was built in the early 20th century. Designed by architect Harry Allan Jacobs, this majestic Beaux-Arts building was formerly known as the Seville Hotel and later the Carlton Hotel. In 2018, it became known as the St. James and earned New York City landmark status that same year. I particularly love the green bay windows—copper turned green with time, perhaps?

If you know anything about me, it's that I am passionately in love with Venice. The Lion of Venice—a winged lion, to be precise—is the symbol of the city. Sculpted images of lions appear everywhere throughout Venice, so it comes as no surprise that I am also fond of the lions of NoMad.

Lions of St James Hotel

Lions of The Evelyn Hotel

The cast-iron clock on the façade of the Gilsey House tells the correct time, but it takes us back to another era in New York—the 19th-century Gilded Age, a time of immense wealth for the upper classes. Originally built as a 300-room hotel on the corner of Broadway and West 29th Street, the building features a lovely clock supported by two carved mermaids.

The mural on 236 Fifth Avenue, known as “The Gilded Lady”, is full of references to the rich history of NoMad starting with the Gilded Age. The image of the woman is that of Evelyn Nesbit, a famous model and chorus girl of that time. Notice the Gilded Lady has a copper badge pinned to her chest. NYC police officers used to wear these badges so they became known as coppers and eventually it was shortened to cops. This mural was created by artist Tristan Eaton.

One of the entrances to the 28th Street subway station is right on my block. Like many NYC stops, its walls are adorned with unique murals designed specifically for this station. Here, vibrant perennial flowers found in nearby Madison Square Park line the station walls—crafted by Miotto Mosaic Art Studios based on original drawings by artist Nancy Blum.

If you enter or exit the subway through the New York Life Insurance Company building on Park Avenue South, you will have a completely different experience.

Do you think this is from a church in Italy or France? No, it is a detail of the neo-Renaissance Emmet Building, located at 89–95 Madison Avenue at 29th Street. Canopies with Madonnas and other medieval figures, gargoyles, cavaliers, and courtesans are featured along the lower part of the building.

The Church of the Transfiguration at 1 East 29th Street has been known as "The Little Church Around the Corner" since 1870. At that time, a pastor from a nearby church refused to conduct a funeral service for an actor—apparently, acting was deemed improper—and suggested the funeral be held at "the little church around the corner." The Church of the Transfiguration has embraced a close bond with the theater community ever since.

Detail of Appellate Court Statue of Wisdom

The Appellate Court is not located downtown with the city's other courthouses, but right in NoMad at the corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street. The influence of Andrea Palladio is striking in this classical Beaux-Arts building—from its perfectly symmetrical columns and statues adorning the edifice to the blend of Roman temple elements and Renaissance style. Designed by architect James Brown Lord, it officially opened on January 2, 1900.

You don't have to be in Italy to see Italy! At the border of NoMad and the Flatiron District stands the imposing MetLife Tower. The Campanile of San Marco in Venice served as the direct inspiration for its design.