ELY JACQUES KAHN, ARCHITECT Beaux-Arts to Modernism in New York

New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 2006. Hardcover. 276 pages; Clean and tight in original blue binding in bright fresh dustjacket. Notes. Selected bibliography. Index. Prolific illustrations. Contents: Introduction; The Shaping of an American Architect; Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1907-11; Homecoming: Buchman & Kahn, The Early Years, 1917-1921; Building Boom: Garment District Developers and Design, 1921-25; Toward an American Modernism, 1925-28; Skyward: The Major Works, 1928-31; The 1930s: New Challenges and Opportunities; Kahn and Jacobs, 1940-1950; and From Midtown to Wall Street, 1950-1965. Ely Jacques Kahn (1884-1972), preeminent 20th century architect of commercial buildings, was one of the most prolific architects in New York City. While his career spanned nearly half a century, his most widely known work is associated with the 1920s buiding boom in New York City, where three dozen of his buildings still exist. Kahn was in the last wave of Americans to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at the acme of its influence in America. Considered progressive, but not radical, he heralded artistic freedom, yet adhered to Beaux-Arts methodology throughout his career. An early exponent of polychrome building facades, Kahn evolved an abstract, geometric decorative style and was inspired by such diverse sources as the machine and exotic cultures. Authors: Jewel Stern and John A. Stuart were co-curators with Janet Parks of an exhibition on Ely Jacques Kahn at the Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University (2006). Jewel Stern is an artist, art historian, and independent curator. John Stuart is associate professor of Architecture at Florida International University. .