NYU SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES CENTER FOR PUBLISHING & APPLIED LIBERAL ARTS CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMS (PALA/CE)

Continuing Education Programs in Publishing, the Humanities, Arts, Producing, Design, Writing, and Translation.

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Seeing Red: An Interview with Sabine Wilson and Her Students

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Red. What do you think of when the color comes to mind? This is the central question of Sabine Wilson’s summer class, Seeing Red: The History of the Color Red In Art. We interviewed Wilson and some of her students about their concepts of the color and how their perception of it may have changed when thinking about red through the lens of art history.

Let us know in the comments what the color red inspires in you!

Sabine Wilson, Adjunct Instructor, NYU SPS PALACE

When you think of the color red, what immediately comes to mind?

Energy, love, warmth

What is your favourite historic painting that features red? Why are you drawn to it?

Francois Clouet, A lady in her bath, from 1571 at the National Gallery in Washington. The nude woman is framed by a brilliant red silk curtain. Red is also used to create the lifelike skin tone, her rosy cheeks and lips. It shows the importance of red pigments and lakes to emulate skin and to attract the attention of the viewer, here using a curtain.

A lady in her bath
A Lady in Her Bath, c. 1571, François Clouet

How have your perceptions of the color changed after thinking about it through the lens of art?

It was amazing to learn that red ochre was used 30 million years ago in sophisticated cave paintings. One wrongly assumes colors were as easily available to painters in the 15th century as they are to painter of the 21st century. The addition of other red pigments and lakes to the painter’s palette was a long and costly process that took centuries of discoveries. I now appreciate much more Old Master paintings.

Rachel Klein, NYU SPS PALACE Student

When you think of the color red, what immediately comes to mind?

Love and war are the 2 things I associate with the color red.

What is your favourite historic painting that features red? Why are you drawn to it?

“Red on Maroon” Mark Rothko, 1959 – Tate Britain

The brilliant red rectangle seems to shimmer off the canvas. The rectangle offers a portal to layers of color.

red on maroon
Red on Maroon, 1959, Mark Rothko, The Tate
© Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/DACS 2022

How have your perceptions of the color changed after thinking about it through the lens of art?

Red is the oldest color. It has played an important role in history. Through the lens of art, red relays a timeline of world events and trends.

Jane Meech, NYU SPS PALACE Student

When you think of the color red, what immediately comes to mind?

Before taking the class, red conjured up the thoughts of aggression. Red had a negative connotation for me.

What is your favorite painting that features red? Why are you drawn to it?

The painting is the portrait of Isabel de Requesens executed by Giulio Romano although commissioned through Raphael. I’m drawn to it, because of the sumptuous draping of the red velvet, her skin tones, and lips. The red adds an exquisite illuminance quality to the skin. The painting draws you into the picture plane and the narrative starts to unfold.

isabel de requesens
Isabel de Requesens, c. 1518, Giulio Romano

How have your perceptions of the color changed after thinking about it through the lens of art?

I now appreciate how the color red has been used for communication from the time of cave paintings through to modern art, Rothko, and beyond to contemporary art, e.g., Anish Kapoor.

Anish Kapoor work can be intense. He uses red in exquisite ways to convey meaning to the viewer. He uses red to symbolize blood, “the beginning and end of everything (life)”.

Interested in expanding your art history knowledge? Sabine Wilson will be teaching again in the fall. Her class, Painting the Côte d’Azur, starts October 18. Register for the course here.

Preserving New York: Nom Wah Tea Parlor

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This essay is part of a student series for the Centre of Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts (PALA) at NYU SPS. We will be showcasing four student papers written in Spring 2022, for Kelly Carroll’s course Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods. Students were asked to pick a historic site in New York City and make the case for why it should be granted Landmark status.

Nom Wah
Nom Wah, 1940
Nom Wah
Nom Wah Present Day

Kate Ringo chose Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Read an excerpt from their fascinating essay below:

“Nom Wah Tea Parlor, 11-13 Doyers Street, has survived over 100 years due to the entrepreneurial ingenuity of multiple owners, but scrappiness and resolve cannot guarantee it will remain as a marker of the Chinese American community’s achievements for another 100 years. While there is not a current known threat to the building, the recent rezoning of SoHo/NoHo is a prime example of impending change in the surrounding area. Chinatown was not included in the 2021 rezoning, yet advocates such as Village Preservation continue to question whether the city’s claims can be trusted.26 11-13 Doyers Street deserves designation as an individual landmark — on the basis of the building’s contributions to the history of Chinatown, as a longstanding gathering place for the community it serves, and as an emblem of Chinese American culture so beloved that patrons line the curving street on a daily basis for dim sum, even in the midst of a pandemic that prompted a new wave of racism and threatened to devastate Chinatown’s businesses.”

Doyers Street
1936 Doyers Street

Kate Ringo’s full paper and presentation can be read here:
Nom Wah Tea Parlor by Kate Ringo
Nom Wah Tea Parlor Presentation by Kate Ringo

Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods is a continuing education course that any member of the public can register for and is also one of the required courses in the Certificate in Historic Preservation. The course will be running again in the fall, click here to register.

Preserving New York: William Sloane YMCA

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This essay is part of a student series for the Centre of Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts (PALA) at NYU SPS. We will be showcasing four student papers written in Spring 2022, for Kelly Carroll’s course Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods. Students were asked to pick a historic site in New York City and make the case for why it should be granted Landmark status.

William Sloane YMCA

Kristy Pavlick chose the William Sloane YMCA. Read an excerpt from their insightful essay below:

“The purpose of the William Sloane YMCA was to create a space for young men new to
the city and for members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Specifically,
Sloane House was “a place where those coming to New York to make a start in life can stay until they have located work and a permanent residence.” The building provided sleeping
accommodations for 1,676 guests (The William Sloane House NYC, 93). A NYT’s article from
the day before the YMCA’s opening, March 2, 1930 said the building was “to be the last word in
a structure of its type”. The top twelve floors were dedicated to dormitories while the bottom
floors were used as social rooms. This included recreation rooms, offices, a barber shop,
showers, lockers, a large banquet hall, reading rooms and an extensive gymnasium with
basketball, volleyball and handball courts and athletic equipment of all kinds” (New $3M
YMCA). Today, the interior has been entirely altered.

Sloane House began to see changes in the 1940s. The number of servicemen who needed
housing dwindled and women and girls were now allowed to stay in the building. Additionally,
long-term accommodations to college students and welfare recipients were welcomed. A fire in 1972 caused even more change to the building. The YMCA had multiple unsuccessful
fundraising attempts in the 1980s, causing the building to close in 1993. By 1995, the building
was purchased and remodeled as affordable apartments for young professionals new to New
York (William Sloane House, Y.M.C.A). Today, the William Sloane YMCA has been rebranded
as The Sloane, an apartment complex featuring “260 gracious residences”. Apartments range
from studios to three bedrooms and “private maisonettes boasting modern finishes and high
ceilings” are available (Sloane Chelsea NYC). Sixty-five years later the building has come full
circle, to create a space for people starting out in New York City”

William Sloane YMCA
William Sloane YMCA 1939-1941

Kristy Pavlick’s full paper and slide show can be read here:
William Sloane YMCA by Kristy Pavlick
William Sloane YMCA Slide Show by Kristy Pavlick

Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods is a continuing education course that any member of the public can register for and is also one of the required courses in the Certificate in Historic Preservation. The course will be running again in the fall, click here to register.

Preserving New York: Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground

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This essay is part of a student series for the Centre of Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts (PALA) at NYU SPS. We will be showcasing four student papers written in Spring 2022, for Kelly Carroll’s course Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods. Students were asked to pick a historic site in New York City and make the case for why it should be granted Landmark status.

Flushing Cemetery Map
 1908-13, College Pt., Flushing Whitestone. Hyde, E.B., Atlas of the Borough of Queens, Flushing.

Janet Caraisco chose Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground. Read an excerpt from their informative essay below:

“I respectfully nominate the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground for consideration as a NYC Scenic Landmark.  This historic and culturally significant site needs the protection of NYC Landmark Preservation laws to prevent future destruction.  Established in 1840, the “Colored Cemetery of Flushing” was an important final resting place for the citizens of Flushing for more 50 years.  Unfortunately, the cemetery fell into disuse and disrepair in the 1890s and was paved over in 1931 to create a park.  The burial grounds vanished from the narrative history of the neighborhood until no one remembered a cemetery had been there.  An archaeological dig in the 1990s revealed human remain under the playground. 

Many involved citizens, led by the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy, petitioned to reconstruct and re-designate this site from a park to burial ground to commemorate the African American and Native American people buried there.  (Old Town of Flushing Burial Ground n.d.)  Mayor de Blasio spoke about the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Grounds in 2018 at the design ceremony, ‘…we’re commemorating an important part of our history and the vision of this community, which worked hard to get recognition for this site.’ (Mohammad 2018)”

Commerative Wall
Commemorative Wall at the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Grounds
(Holtermann 2021)

Janet Caraisco’s full paper can be read here: Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground- Janet Caraisco

Behind The Scenes In New York: Preserving A City Of Historic Neighborhoods is a continuing education course that any member of the public can register for and is also one of the required courses in the Certificate in Historic Preservation. The course will be running again in the fall, click here to register.