Hotel des Artistes

In 1914, a group of artists—including Walter Russell, Frank DuMond, Willard Metcalf, and Penrhyn Stanlaws—paid $250,000 to buy a parcel of land on the west side of Central Park with the plans of building Hotel des Artistes. At the outset, they planned to erect a 20-story building where 10 stories would be dedicated to artists' studio space and the other 10 would be dedicated to apartments. The building is also noted for its pastoral floor-to-ceiling paintings by Howard Chandler Christy, one of its earliest residents. In 1970, the building transformed into a full co-operative after a new owner purchased it. Several longtime tenants were evicted after a lengthy court battle. In 1975, violinist turned restaurateur George Lang took over the run-down ground-floor cafe and renovated it, bringing in new diners. Lang and his wife Gloria ran Cafe des Artistes until 2009, when they decided to close it during the recession. In 2011, it reopened under new management as the Leopard at des Artistes. == Notable residents ==

• Earnest Andersson, who had developed the concept of the Hotel des Artists, and owned several apartments therein • Rolf Armstrong • Peter Benchley • Howard Chandler Christy • Noël Coward • Harry Crosby: Writer Harry Crosby—nephew of J.P. Morgan—killed himself and his mistress, Josephine Bigelow, in the building in 1929. • Charles Dana Gibson • Frank DuMond • Isadora Duncan • Joel Grey • Elizabeth Hardwick, writer • Fannie Hurst, • Ellsworth Kelly • John Lindsay • Peter Martins • Willard Metcalf • James Montgomery Flagg • Alla Nazimova • LeRoy Neiman • Mike Nichols • Gary Oldman • Jean Pigozzi • Alice Pike Barney • Zasu Pitts • Norman Rockwell • Margaret Widdemer • Alexander Woollcott == In popular culture ==

• Audrey Rose (1977): Hotel des Artistes plays a prominent role in the supernatural drama Audrey Rose. The film's set designers re-created one of the building's apartments on a sound stage in Hollywood. == References ==