Gainsborough Studios (building)
Gainsborough Studios is a 1908 building located at 222 Central Park South in Manhattan, New York City. The 16-story building contains 34 artist's studios, each unit features double height, 18 foot ceilings with double height windows facing north and overlooking Central Park. A well-heeled artist rented each studio as working space, primarily producing oil portraits for well-heeled patrons.
The building was designed as a combination studio and living space for artists, featuring shared kitchen areas, a laundry, and a private dining room, as well as a reception area for clients.
The facade features a bust of the English painter Thomas Gainsborough, a bas-relief, or frieze, Procession of the Arts, by Isidore Konti, and a tile mural by Henry Chapman Mercer and his Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.
The architects were Herbert Harde and R. Thomas Short, originally named Herbert Spencer Steinhardt and Richard Thomas Short, each had shortened his name. Together they formed the well-known New York architectural firm, Harde & Short.
The building has been a designated New York City Landmark since 1988.
