The Hispanic Society of America
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n art and artifacts, as well as a rare books and manuscripts research library. Founded in 1904 by Archer M. Huntington
Archer M. Huntington
Archer Milton Huntington was the son of Arabella Huntington and the stepson of railroad magnate and industrialist Collis P. Huntington...
, the institution is free and open to the public at its original location in a Beaux Arts building on Audubon Terrace
Audubon Terrace
Audubon Terrace, also known as Audubon Terrace Historic District, is a landmark complex of approximately eight early 20th century Beaux Arts buildings in New York City...
(at 155th Street
155th Street (Manhattan)
155th Street is a major crosstown street in the Harlem neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the northernmost of the 155 crosstown streets mapped out in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811 that established the numbered street grid in Manhattan.155th Street starts on the West...
and Broadway) in the lower Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
area of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Exterior sculpture at the Society includes work by Anna Hyatt Huntington
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor.-Life and career:Huntington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father, Alpheus Hyatt, was a professor of paleontology and zoology at Harvard University and MIT, and served as a contributing factor to her early interest in animals and...
and nine major reliefs by the Swiss-American sculptor Berthold Nebel
Berthold Nebel
Berthold Nebel was an American sculptor.Berthold Nebel was born in 1889 in Basel, Switzerland, and came to the United States with his parents when he was a year old.- Training :...
, a commission that took ten years to complete.
Museum collections
The museum contains works by Diego VelázquezDiego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, Francisco de Goya, El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, and Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Valencian Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes...
, among others.
A major component of this museum is the Sorolla Room
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Valencian Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes...
which was reinstalled in 2010. It displays a massive series of Sorolla paintings created from 1911 to 1919 (commissioned by Archer Huntington). The paintings ring the large room (estimate: 50 ft square) and depict scenes from each of the provinces of Spain.
The rare books library maintains 15,000 books printed before 1700, including a first edition of Don Quijote.