The French Building NYC. The Assyrian-style lobby, extravagant example of Art Deco
The Fred French Building, New York City. The vestibule of the entrance from 45th Street, as seen from the elevator lobby. The Assyrian-style lobby is one of the city’s most elaborate and extravagant examples of Art Deco architecture.
The marble walls contain decorative details such as chevrons, palmettes, volutes, merlons, and lotus flowers. Animal representations, such as lions and winged bulls, are also present.
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© Ikonographia / Roberto Bigano
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MORE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
Art Deco Elevator Panels at Fred French Building (1927) — Glinsky & Bach
Gilded Art Deco Masterpieces at 551 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
A rare surviving ensemble of gilded bronze panels created in 1927 by Vincent Glinsky and Oscar Bach.
These elevator doors visualize the four pillars of Fred F. French’s real-estate empire—Industry, Commerce, Finance, and Building—through a sculptural language blending Art Deco geometry with echoes of ancient Mesopotamian reliefs.
Completed in 1927, the Fred F. French Building stands as one of Manhattan’s finest expressions of the early Art Deco style. While the tower is admired for its stepped crown and gilded ornament, its most exceptional artworks lie hidden in the lobby: eight bronze elevator panels conceived by sculptor Vincent Glinsky and master metalworker Oscar Bach.
Commissioned to embody the vision of developer Fred Fillmore French, these doors translate the essential forces driving New York’s rise—labor, trade, wealth, and architecture—into a sophisticated visual program. Their hybrid style reflects Classical allegory, modern stylization, and distinct echoes of Assyrian and Mesopotamian palace reliefs, which were widely studied and admired in 1920s New York.
Each elevator panel embodies one of the four sectors central to the French Companies:
• Industry — strength, engineering, infrastructure
• Commerce — exchange, trade, and refined goods
• Finance — wealth, investment, administration
• Building — architecture, planning, construction
