The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the New York Times, to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". The National Arts Club has several art galleries, and hosts a variety of public programs in all artistic areas including theater, literature and music. Although the club is private, many of its events are free and open to the public.
History
Establishment
A group of friends, all of them involved in architecture, art, or civic affairs, discussed the possibility of a new kind of club that would embrace all the arts. The establishment of the Club came at a time when American artists were increasingly turning to their own nation rather than exclusively to Europe as a center of work and creativity. Significantly, the club would offer full membership for women at the onset, reflecting their accomplishment in the arts.
While the group was working out an organizational plan, Charles DeKay, the literary and art critic of the New York Times for 18 years, returned from a diplomatic post abroad. An inspired organizer and entrepreneur, he sent letters to men and women of importance in the New York area as well as in metropolitan areas across the country. The response was so enthusiastic that the club was able to apply to Albany for its charter in 1898. With the application went a list of the officers, Board of Trustees, and members totaling more than 1200.
The list included such collectors as Henry Frick, William T. Evans, Benjamin Altman, Jules Bache and Henry Walters. Though not a charter member, J. Pierpont Morgan joined the Club early in its development and later was made an Honorary Vice President. Among the artists of the period, earlier charter members, or those joined in the early days of the club were Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and George Bellows.
The club's first home was a brownstone on West 34th Street. Commerce, meanwhile, was moving up from downtown, and the neighborhood of brownstones was changing.
20th century
Because it accepted both men and women, the club was a rousing success and its tight quarters on 34th street could barely keep up with the demand for new membership.
Spencer Trask, the club's treasurer, was asked to find the club a new home. He found that 14 and 15 Gramercy Park South, the former home of Samuel Tilden, was on the market. Legend has it that he was so afraid that some other buyer would also find it that he put down some money of his own to bind the bargain. In 1906, the club acquired the Samuel J. Tilden House.
Throughout the 20th century, the club was primarily noted for its exhibits, with a few controversies arising from some of its shows. In 1905, the club displayed a sculpture of Aphrodite that purported to be from ancient Rome. Critics were quick to deride the statue as a fake, placing it as a work that came from a much later era. In 1922, "Nude Girl with a Shawl" (now known as "Nude with White Shawl"), a painting by George Bellows, offended the audience of the time, who considered it immoral.
21st century
The early 21st century was marked by financial crisis and a decade-long feud between the club's president and its board that eventually led to the expulsion of the long-running president and settlement of state charges against the club.
In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the club renovated parts of its building to allow for the opening of new galleries.
The Clubhouse
The Initial Clubhouse
The initial clubhouse was noted for its tea rooms and the fact that it allowed both men and women to commingle. However, with a growing membership, the club was forced to find a new home. It initially purchased a building next door to the original clubhouse but, in 1906, the club found an opportunity to move into a new space: the Samuel Tilden Mansion.
The Samuel Tilden Mansion
Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J. Tilden House, a landmarked Victorian Gothic Revival brownstone at 15 Gramercy Park, next door to The Players, a club with similar interests. The Tilden House was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It is located in the Gramercy Park Historic District.
The new clubhouse, which opened its doors in 1906, was initially designed with a billard room and a parlor on the ground floor, and reading rooms and smoking rooms on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor was purely focused on team rooms for female members.