Beschreibung:

NEW YORK - STANFORD WHITE] SIDMAN, HERBERT H. Thirty-two photographs depicting the Henry Poor Mansion, Gramercy Park . New York: circa 1903. Thirty-two platinum prints on card mounts imprinted in the lower margin "H. H. Sidman/8 East 42nd St. N.Y." Mostly 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (35 x 27.5 cm) or the reverse, also included is a slightly smaller photograph on a different mount depicting two farmhouses, together thirty-three images. Some chipping to mount extremities and corners, one mount with more extensive losses, otherwise very well preserved. In 1899, legendary New York architect Stanford White encouraged Henry Poor, the wealthy, well-educated and socially prominent publisher and financier (his company was a predecessor of Standard & Poor's), to buy two buildings at 125 and 127 East 21st Street and allow White to rehabilitate the exteriors and lavishly decorate the interiors. White filled the house with architectural elements, antiquities, tiger rugs and furnishings all sourced in Europe and the house was renowned for its Gilded Age opulence. These photographs document the exterior as well as all the major rooms within the house including the conservatory, the squash court, and Poor's library, which at the time was considered as great as those belonging to James Lenox and J.P. Morgan. Poor would declare bankruptcy in 1907, his possessions sold in a series of auctions, and the house was later demolished. C