History and architecture
The Rodin Studios building, built in 1916-17, was designed by Cass Gilbert specifically for artists. Named for the most innovative living artist of the time, it represents a refinement on the earlier essays in that was a relatively new building type. The two principal elevations of this fourteen-story, reinforced concrete frame building, are sheathed in rough brick, polychromatic -- buff to gray, laid in American bond. The elaborate and extensive terra cotta and iron trim is molded and cast in the late Gothic-early Classical motifs which, characterize the French Renaissance style, the style of the neighboring Arts Students League as well as a style Gilbert thought appropriate for-.artists.
The studio windows on the West 57th Street elevation with their cast iron canopies are particularly noteworthy. The brickwork is remarkable also; the broad and narrow bay reveals, linking the builiding's base and cap, give this elevation a distinct visual coherence.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.