The Four Seasons Restaurant

The Four Seasons is a world-famous restaurant in New York City located at 99 East 52nd Street (Manhattan), in the Seagram Building.

The restaurant's interior, which was designed by the building's architects Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, has remained almost unchanged since construction in 1959. The restaurant was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as an interior landmark in 1989. [ [http://www.restaurantrow.com/moreinfo.cfm?code=105973 Restaurant Row: Four Seasons] ]

The restaurant itself has been widely praised, winning the James Beard Award in 1999. The restaurant is known as much for its clientele as its food, with its Midtown location making it convenient for es.

Art in the Four Seasons

The artist Mark Rothko was famously engaged to paint a series of works for the restaurant in 1958. Accepting the commission, he secretly resolved to create "something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room." Observing the restaurant's pretentious atmosphere upon his return from a trip to Europe, Rothko abandoned the project altogether, returned his advance and kept the paintings for himself. The final series was dispersed and now hangs in three locations: London’s Tate Gallery, Japan’s Kawamura Memorial Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

From 1975 until 1985 four paintings by Ronnie Landfield from the collection of Philip Johnson were installed on the wall that had been initially planned for the Mark Rothko commission. [ [http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/learnonline/modernpaints/rothko.htm Tate Modern, Rothko Murals retrieved October 4 2008] ] [ [http://www.abstract-art.com/landfield/la5_bio_info_fldr/11rl_bio-jn.html Biography - under commissions and special projects, retrieved online June 22, 2008] ] In 1985 the artist James Rosenquist was commissioned to install a permanent mural on the wall; the Landfield paintings were returned to Philip Johnson.

A major Richard Lippold sculpture is installed in the Front Bar, which hangs from the ceiling. A large Pablo Picasso tapestry was installed between the Grill Room and the Pool Room for many years. In addition to the works on permanent public display there are other works and continuously revolving exhibitions in the dining rooms and the 52nd Street entrance walls which have included paintings by Frank Stella, Richard Anuszkiewicz and Ronnie Landfield, amongst several others.

References

External links

* [http://www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com/ Four Seasons Restaurant] - official website
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D9103BF933A05754C0A96F948260 STREETSCAPES: Four Seasons; Serving Up a Restaurant for Landmark Designation]
* [http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/2000/articles/magazine_feature.html Seasons in the Sun] - award-winning "Vanity Fair magazine" piece about the restaurant