Kykuit
This hilltop
paradise was home to four generations of the Rockefeller
family, beginning with the philanthropist John
D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His business
acumen made him, in his day, the richest man in America.
Now a historic site of the National Trust, this extraordinary
landmark has been continuously and meticulously maintained
for almost 100 years.
Tours of Kykuit take you through the
main rooms of the six-story stone house and then out
through the expansive, terraced gardens containing Governor
Nelson A. Rockefeller's exceptional collection of 20th-century
sculpture. Artists represented include Pablo Picasso,
Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and
David Smith, among many others. The private, underground
art galleries with Governor Rockefeller's collection
of Picasso tapestries, and the cavernous Coach Barn,
with its collections of classic automobiles and horse-drawn
carriages, are also part of the experience.
Of the hundreds of works of art Governor
Nelson A. Rockefeller collected, it was sculpture to
which he was the most drawn. Between 1935 and the late
1970's, he assembled an extensive collection, and while
Nelson Rockefeller made major gifts from his fine arts
collection to museums, often anonymously, his finest
sculptures, 120 objects, remain at Kykuit.
From both a historical and aesthetic
point of view and because of the range and completeness
of the collection, these sculptures are the most important
part of the art collections at Kykuit. The collection
includes works by those sculptors in Europe and the
United States who are widely thought to have created
some of the most original art of the twentieth century—Pablo
Picasso, Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp, Alexander Calder,
Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Louise
Nevelson, and David Smith. Nelson began to acquire many
of these works after World War II, when most collectors
remained preoccupied with painting, and he assembled
works by both well known and little known sculptors.
In the 1950's, when he purchased works by such sculptors
as David Smith and Reg Butler, they were relatively
obscure.
Because it needs a place with space
around it, sculpture often looks best on a site framed
by architecture; garden settings are particularly ideal
because they are intentionally created as spaces in
which people experience and relate to the natural world
and seek solace and renewal. At Kykuit, the house acts
as a visual anchor for the collection of sculpture around
it: visitors walk through various three-dimensional
spaces -- enclosed gardens, terraces at different levels
whose walls and hedges create volume, and garden pavilions
and gazebos. Sculpture is fundamentally a physical presence;
it creates a physical and psychological impression.
In paintings, volume is only described on the surface
of the canvas. Viewers cannot enter a painting as they
can the space of a sculpture. Indeed, the presence of
three-dimensional art can enliven the space around it.
Bosworth certainly envisioned sculpture in this role
when he created the Kykuit gardens, directly based on
European Renaissance models in which sculpture was integral
to the design.
In 1906, as the construction of Kykuit
had reached the first floor, John D. Rockefeller Jr.
hired William Welles Bosworth to plan the formal gardens.
Bosworth, like JDR Jr. a native of Ohio , had received
his degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 1889 and had worked for the landscape
architect Frederick Law Olmsted. While traveling in
Europe between 1899 and 1901, Bosworth attended the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and there met Chester
Aldrich, later hired to design the first stage of the
house at Kykuit.
Bosworth's Kykuit garden, including
the entrance facade, is considered his best work in
the United States , where he practiced until the end
of World War I. In 1913, with Kykuit virtually completed,
JDR Jr. hired Bosworth to design a substantial eight-story
townhouse (now demolished) at 10 West 54th Street in
New York City , next door to his parent's home. Beginning
in 1926, as general secretary of the French-American
Committee for the Restoration of Historic Monuments,
Bosworth supervised the restoration of the palaces of
Versailles and Fontainebleau and the cathedrals at Rheims
and Chartres , projects all funded in large measure
by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Except for the 1913 extension of
the entrance forecourt, the gardens Bosworth planned
in 1906 are essentially what exist today - the inner
garden with the brook garden and Temple of Aphrodite
beyond, the west terraces with the swimming pool, and
the semicircular rose garden. Trees that have died have
been carefully and appropriately replaced while others
have matured, but the architectural framework of the
gardens is still visible. Bosworth's use throughout
the garden of roughly cut stones and boulders is consistent
with the traditional rustic aesthetic of a country garden;
a city garden would have demanded finely cut stonework.
Bosworth's goal was both to maintain and enhance the
river view and to create an accessible garden with many
and varied walks on which visitors and family might
enjoy nature transformed. In the overall plan, the river
view from the west porch took prominence. Bosworth intended
to transform this view into a panorama comparable to
the paintings of Thomas Cole or Frederic Church.
Tours of Kykuit originate from Philipsburg
Manor Visitor Center on Route 9 in Sleepy Hollow. Select
your tour from:
Continuous
Tours - Duration: 2 1/4 hrs - Tours continuous
throughout the day - Daily except Tuesday The House
& Inner Garden Tour - Perfect for first-time visitors,
the standard House & Inner Garden Tour includes
the main floor of the six-story stone house complete
with its fine furnishings and art; the subterranean
art galleries; the Inner Garden and West Terrace, with
spectacular views of the Hudson River and the outdoor
sculpture collection; and finally, the mammoth Coach
Barn with its collection of antique carriages and classic
automobiles. This tour is wheelchair accessible. Individuals:
$22 $20 $19 $ 11
Modern Art
Tour - This brand new tour offers a comprehensive
view of the modern art at Kykuit, focusing on Nelson
Rockefellers leadership as a collector and connoisseur
of art as influenced by his mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller,
one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. The
tour particularly focuses on the 1950s through 1970s,
highlighting many artists and their works from the extensive
collection of paintings and outdoor sculpture. The tour
concludes with a visit to the Union Church of Pocantico
Hills to view the Matisse and Chagall stained glass
windows commissioned by members of the Rockefeller family.
Individuals: $30 $30 $30 $20
Timesaver
Tour - Duration: 1 3/4 hrs - Mon, Wed-Fri @ 2:35pm
- The Timesaver Tour, offered on weekdays, is a shortened
tour that includes the main house and a visit to the
lovely Inner Garden and West Terrace, with its splendid
Hudson River views. The Coach Barn and art galleries
are not included on this tour. Individuals: $19 $19
$19 $ 11
Garden &
Sculpture Tour - Duration: 2 1/4 hrs - Wed, Sat,
& Sun @ 11:15am - This tour includes the morning
and brook gardens, the Italian garden, the Adam and
Eve fountain area, as well as several terraced areas
featuring classical and contemporary sculpture. The
Garden & Sculpture Tour does not include any buildings
and is not wheelchair accessible, due to the many steps
and hilly terrain. The tour is not recommended for persons
with balance or mobility problems. Sturdy shoes are
highly recommended. The tour is given rain or shine.
Individuals: $22 $20 $19 $ 11
The Grand
Tour - Duration: 3 hrs - Daily except Tuesday
@ 9:45am & 1:45pm - This tour includes all the best
features of the House & Inner Garden Tour and the
Gardens & Sculpture Tour, and it is the only tour
that includes a visit to the second floor balcony of
the house, with splendid east-west views through the
sitting rooms and important paintings from Governor
Rockefeller's collection. Individuals: $36 $36 $36 $26
Selected Highlights
Tour - Duration: 2 1/4 hrs - Weekdays except
Tuesday @ 1pm - For visitors who want to see both the
house and more of the gardens and sculpture, and wish
to exclude the coach barn and the art galleries, the
Selected Highlights Tour is an excellent choice. This
tour is not wheelchair accessible; it runs rain or shine.
Individuals: $22 $20 $19 $14
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