A Photo Worth $4,000

The New York Public Library was designed by Carrère & Hastings and constructed by the Norcross Brothers between 1902 and 1911 at a cost of $9 million. Endowed with 530,000 cubic feet of marble, the building is an exquisite example of a Beaux-Arts civic monument. Its Fifth Avenue façade consists of a broad terrace and grand stair; deep triple-arched portico with coupled Corinthian columns; attic with sculptural program; and end-pedimented pavilions. As touted on the Library’s webpage: “The building’s exterior ornamentation reflects one of the great artistic collaborations of its era, and every intricate classical detail was hand-carved by artisans trained in old-world techniques.”

New York Public Library glass negative from 1908 depicting late-stage construction: sculptures not yet installed; registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before January 1, 1930.

Indeed, as the building construction neared completion, the project’s architects gave out commissions for exterior sculptures. It was customary that the sculptors would perform the modeling, in plaster, whereas specialist firms performed the actual carving.

Among the several sculptures that are present outside of the building (e.g., two figures above the fountains on either side of the portico, i.e., Frederick MacMonnies’s “Truth” and “Beauty”, six statues standing in the portico attic above the main Fifth Avenue entrance (representing History, Romance, Religion, Poetry, Drama and Philosophy) and of course the famous lions that greet the library’s patrons (Patience and Fortitude)) sit the pediment figures  “Art” (south) and “History” (north) by sculptor George Grey Barnard. Bernard, incidentally, is responsible for locating and arranging the pieces that eventually became "The Cloisters," now of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bernard performed the modeling of the pediments, for $20,000, and John Donnelly of Donnelly & Rocci performed the carving. While there is no indication that any project owner’s representative was dissatisfied with the final result of either the carving or the pediments' installation, Bernard expressed his dissatisfaction— first by not paying Donnelly’s $4,000 fee, and then, in response to Donnelly’s lawsuit seeking payment, by counterclaiming for $50,000.

In his Answer, Bernard alleged that Donnelly’s firm had poorly executed and installed the pediments, such that they would have to be taken down, replaced and reinstalled. Bernard claimed that the plaster models that he made in his studio were perfect when they were removed, and yet:

In the 'History' group the figure of the knight of armor has about nine inches of marble lacking on his chest—that is, the figure lacks that much depth.

Furthermore, the pigeons, his sword, and other details are absolutely wrong in places and are lacking in marble. That means that the marble was skimped and the work done very badly. More vital than these defects, however, is the fact that the pose of the knight is the reverse of what my model called for—he is leaning backward instead of forward.

The main figure in The Arts' group, on the south side of the library, facing Fifth Avenue, is probably the worst of the lot. The head and torso lack between eight and nine inches of marble, and the entire leg of the woman is set back from its proper position in order to cover certain holes that were negligently bored by the incompetent workmen who set the group up. The head and face of the figure lack marble so badly that the face appears to be eaten away and the fingers, instead of resting on the forehead, are cut into the skull. The upper part of the leg is not in accord with the lower; in fact, the leg shows two distinct and equally erroneous pointings.

This entire group is wrongly set. It is ten inches back of its proper position, and instead of being set parallel to the street has been placed on the bias.

The passerby on Fifth Avenue, from which the groups are designed to be seen, cannot help note that the figures are in grotesque and unnatural positions, and I regret to say that this has hurt my reputation. In fact, the groups have been put together in such an improper manner that they are positively of no value whatever to the library, and they will have to come down.

Barnard concluded by stating: “I did everything in my power to see that the Library received the work that I contracted to do.”

Donnelly, a professional, customarily photographed his clients’ models before working with them. He submitted his photos to the court, showing the spots or points on the models that carvers used in the “pointing system” to duplicate the model in stone. This revealed that New Donnelly had followed the models exactly. Additionally, Donnelly retained expert witnesses who testified that the sculpture, if not visible from directly below, was visible from the streets. Donnelly prevailed, and won entitlement to his fee.

These days sculpture-model conflicts do not rank highly on the list of contractor concerns. Yet, the story is good reminder that all contractors should document their work with photographs and contemporaneous notes to be loaded into digital project management records (e.g., Primavera P6), progress reports and/or other logs. Notes of owner and/or architect approvals in records like meeting minutes and emails would be probative as well to eliminate a material question of fact about a finished product’s adherence to design specifications.

CREDITS

Reed, Henry Hope, The New York Public Library: its architecture and decoration, 1986, Penguin Books

“$50,000 DAMAGE SUIT OVER LIBRARY ART; George Grey Barnard Says His Works Were Botched and Must Come Down. THE MARBLE WAS SKIMPED Willing to Pay Cost Himself to Have "History" and "Arts" Groups Done Over”, NY Times, March 6, 1915