Beaux-Arts America: How the École des Beaux-Arts Influenced the Architectural Landscape of America with Roger Mummert

Two lions sit on Fifth Avenue—as they have for more than a century—guarding the New York Public Library. 

Folks often are surprised to learn that the lions have names. They are named for two attributes common to the New Yorker: Patience and Fortitude. And though they were carved in the Bronx and reside in Manhattan, if they could speak they might have a bit of French accent.

Their sculptor studied in Paris, as did the two architects of the magnificent library itself, who studied at l’École des Beaux-Arts. 

In fact, when these American graduates of this legendary school of painting, sculpture and architecture returned home, they were called “Paris Men.”

The story of “Beaux Arts America” takes us back and forth across the waters, between Paris and the towns and cities of America. 

We will examine why so much of our American architectural landscape—our schools, post offices, government bureaus, banks,…