The landmarked Salmagundi Club has been used as a set for “Blue Bloods,” “The Blacklist” and “Girls” — while Tony Bennett is counted among its members.
But the private club for both artists and art patrons also welcomes everyday New Yorkers who may use its spaces for events, take art lessons or simply browse its art-filled hallways, stairways and galleries.
Housed at 47 Fifth Ave. in the only privately owned brownstone left on Fifth Avenue below 124th Street, the Salmagundi Club hosts ongoing exhibitions and sales, while providing a friendly gathering spot for both art lovers and artists alike.
Its old-world private restaurants — the adjacent Dining Room and Grill Room — are wrapped in dark woods and feature Tiffany glass (made by the late Louis Comfort Tiffany, a former member) — along with plenty of artworks and gargoyles.
Executive chef Herve Riou, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite and a trustee of the Academie Culinaire de France-USA, offers a dinner menu several nights a week to members and their guests.
A round of billiards at one of the club’s three vintage tables is also a popular pursuit — with or without cocktails.
“It’s the best-kept secret,” said the club’s first vice president, Elizabeth Spencer.
Started in 1871 by local art students and friends as the Salmagundi Sketch Club, the club’s name came from the satirical “Salmagundi” periodical published in the early 1800s by Washington Irving and James Kirke Paulding.
Unlike other art clubs, you don’t have to be an artist to join, explained Tim Newton, Salmagundi’s chairman and chief executive.
It wasn’t long after the club’s founding that the artists realized that it was beneficial to include patrons as members.
That quickly bore fruit in 1917, when art sales and patrons came up with more than half the $75,000 needed to buy what was then a four-story rooming house between 11th and 12th streets in the heart of Greenwich Village.
Within a few years, the club burned its mortgage, Newton said.
The Italianate-style brownstone, with 22 fireplaces, was originally built in 1853 as the residence for Sarah and Irad Hawley, who owned the Pennsylvania Coal Company. It became a rooming house after she died in 1891.
The couple’s former boudoir on the second floor is now a library filled with a treasure trove of historical books and artifacts from the club’s founding years.
A collection of Salmagundi mugs, designed and sold by the early members as fundraisers, are displayed behind glass, while artists’ palettes adorn the walls. “It’s the single greatest palette collection in America,” said Spencer.
Today, palettes contributed by member artists and guests are donated to ongoing fundraising art auctions.
Nick Dawes, an appraiser and auctioneer for Heritage Auctions and guest appraiser for PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow,” is often found at the podium for Salmagundi events.
A servants’ staircase, running from the lower levels to both the children’s floor and the top servants’ floor, may soon be converted into an elevator shaft under plans drawn up by historical architects PBDW.
“We want to keep the spirit of the house,” Newton says of the $13 million campaign underway for upgrades and the restoration of the upper floors.
Newton came to the club through a serendipitous encounter with a member at the Dallas Airport. An art catalog started them talking, and soon Newton was hooked.
Art classes are available to walk-ins with their own supplies for a mere $20. There are other ongoing events.
Along with quiet meeting and thinking rooms that all double as galleries, the club’s recently renovated first floor gallery is a classic, white modern space, available for parties and even movie shoots.
During the twice-yearly Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, the Salmagundi Club serves as its headquarters and a gathering place.
There are currently about 1,000 members, with one-third of them living within 50 miles. The remainder live all over the country, Newton said, and pay a reduced membership fee. (Dues are $760 per year for locals, and $440 per year for those outside the New York metropolitan area.)
“Membership has doubled in the last 10 years. For a while, we went off the grid,” he said.
While patrons are installed based on member referrals, artists apply and are accepted based on their artwork. Even non-members can apply to show in various exhibitions. “To be accepted into an exhibition is a great honor,” said Newton.
To continue its 100th anniversary celebration of the purchase of the building, the club’s Centennial Exhibition & Sale will take place March 12–23, with a reception on March 22.
Members include sculptors and photographers. But this is a focused membership; the artists are all “realists,” with no modern or pop in sight. “This is a bastion of traditional beauty,” Newton said. “It’s art that needs no explanation.”
