The Politics of Urban Beauty

Since its founding in 1898, the Art Commission of the City of New York (ACNY) has served as the citys aesthetic gatekeeper, evaluating all works of art intended for display on city property. And over the years, the commissions domain has expanded dramatically to include everything from parks and courthouses to trash cans and sidewalks. In ThePolitics of Urban Beauty, Michele H. Bogart argues that this unprecedented authority has made the commission host to some complex negotiationsinvolving artists, architects, business leaders, activists, and politiciansabout not only the role of art in urban design, but also the shape and meaning of the city and its public spaces. A former vice president of the ACNY, Bogart tells its story here from an insiders perspective, tracing the commissions history from its origins as an outgrowth of progressive reform to its role in New Yorks reconstruction after 9/11. Drawing on archival correspondence, drawings, and photographs from commission collections, Bogart presents bracing examples of worksranging from New Deal murals to Louis Kahns unbuilt Memorial to Six Million Jewish Martyrsthat illuminate the ACNYs subtle yet powerful role in shaping New Yorks identity. The Politics of Urban Beauty is thus a fascinating history of a New York art world that paralleledand sometimes unpredictably intersected withthe more familiar realm of prominent architects, painters, galleries, and museums. Bogarts fresh view adds a critical dimension to our understanding of the city beautiful and makes an important and lively contribution to the study of art history, urban design, and New York City itself.