page_title: Fred F. French Building
section_title: Elevator doors
hierarchical_section_title: Fred F. French Building / Design and features / Interior / Elevator doors
caption_attribution_description: English: A detail from the gold gilt doors of the Fred F. French building in New York City on 5th Avenue, 45th street corner
context_page_description: The Fred F. French Building is a 38-story skyscraper on the northeast corner of 45th Street at 551 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Designed by H. Douglas Ives and Sloan & Robertson, it was erected in 1927 with a striking art deco facade contributing significantly to the international reputation of Fifth Avenue. The building is one of the better known projects of the real estate developer Frederick Fillmore French.
  The Fred F. French Building has approximately 430,000 square feet for rent, and isowned by The Feil Organization. It is used primarily as an office building and also houses classrooms of Pace University. It was the tallest building on Fifth Avenue when completed. By the 1990s, it underwent a complete restoration, subsequently earning the Building Owners and Managers Association 1994/1995 Historic Building of the Year Award. The Fred F. French Building and its interior became New York City designated landmarks in 1986, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
context_section_description: Per the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission report of 1986: "The gilt-bronze (that is, bronze covered with a thin veneer of gold) elevator doors are the major art work of the building. (There are 13 sets of these doors, each the same.) There are 8 panels on each door. 
   Some are more directly influenced by Mesopotamian style than others; some are more directly gods that we know about from Greece and Rome, than others; and some seem just to stand for business and commerce. A collective term for these is "genii"—supernatural creatures or tutelary gods."
  While the artist had some directions as to what to portray, and must have studied drawing in some form, research so far has failed to turn up written statements of what is portrayed. However, the following is a description based upon observation. Describing each panel, identifying them by left and right, and numbering down 1 from the top:
  On the left:
  L1: BUILDING. Man with buildings in background. Apparently not a god. Could be an idealized Fred F. French.
  L2: THE SEA. Man holding a boat, symbolizing the sea. Poseidon/Neptune. Note the beard, reminiscent of those depicted in the bas-reliefs of the ancient near east; that is, Mesopotamia and Sumeria.
  L3: LEARNING. Man holding a book, again with the beard evoking Assyrian bas-reliefs. An image associated with learning; possibly a depiction of Apollo.
  L4: INDUSTRY. Woman holding a beehive, a symbol of industry, or work.
  On the right:
  R1: ARCHITECTURE. Woman with compass and plans (blueprints).
  R2: COMMERCE. Woman holding a Caduceus, symbolizing trades or commerce (not the one snake caduceus, for medicine). Also a cornucopia, horn of plenty.  Possibly goddess Iris.
  R3: CONSTRUCTION. Woman holding a building in her right hand; in her left, a wheel.
  R4: AGRICULTURE. Woman with sickle. Possibly the Greek goddess Demeter or her Roman analogue, Ceres, symbolizing fertility.
  Between these panels horizontally are rows of griffins and antelopes, as well as angels.
caption: A detail from the gold gilt doors of the Fred F. French building in New York City on 5th Avenue, 45th street corner
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