The Gainsborough Studios, also known as 222 Central Park South, is a residential building on Central Park South, just east of Columbus Circle, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Designed by Charles W. Buckham, the building is 16 stories tall with 34 apartments. Named after English painter Thomas Gainsborough, the building is one of several in Manhattan that were built in the early 20th century as both studios and residences for artists.

The Gainsborough Studios' name and design indicated its artistic connotations. The facade contains a bust of Gainsborough above the main entrance; a bas-relief across the third floor, designed by Isidore Konti; and tile murals by Henry Chapman Mercer's Moravian Pottery and Tile Works at the top stories. Some studios have 18-foot (5.5 m) ceilings with double-height spaces, while others are smaller units that occupy part of a single floor. Artists generally rented the studios as a combination residence and working space.

The Gainsborough Studios corporation built the structure between 1907 and 1908 as artists' cooperative housing, although it gradually became a standard residential development. The lobby was restored in the 1950s and in 1981, and a full renovation of the building commenced in 1988. The building was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1988.

The Gainsborough Studios is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, just east of Columbus Circle. It is on the southern side of Central Park South between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, across from Central Park to the north.^[1] The Gainsborough Studios occupies a lot measuring 50 feet (15 m) on Central Park South^[2][3] and 88 feet (27 m) deep.^[2] Nearby buildings include 200 and 220 Central Park South to the east, 240 Central Park South to the west, and 1790 Broadway and the Central Park Tower to the south.^[1]

The Gainsborough Studios is 177.21 feet (54 m) tall^[4] and has 16 stories.^{[4][5][lower-alpha 1]} Charles W. Buckham was the architect,^[2][7] while Wells Bros. Company was the general contractor.^[8] The artist August Franzen [sv] was the founding president of the Gainsborough Studios corporation, which developed the building.^[9] Franzen was a significant figure in the building's planning, and may have influenced the decision to name the building after English painter Thomas Gainsborough.^[10] The Gainsborough Studios' exterior design reflects both its interior furnishings and its purpose as an artists' studio, with numerous allusions to art in both its name and facade.^[7][11] It is one of a few artists' housing cooperatives remaining in Manhattan.^[12]

Cooperative apartment housing in New York City became popular in the late 19th century because of overcrowded housing conditions in the city's dense urban areas.^[18][19] By the beginning of the 20th century, there were some co-ops in the city that catered specifically to artists, including at 130 and 140 West 57th Street, as well as on 67th Street near Central Park.^[20][21] However, these were almost always fully occupied. Some of the artists' co-ops contained features such as double-height ceilings, while others like Gainsborough Studios contained large working areas illuminated by light from the north.^[20]

In 1907, businessman Barron Collier and artists Colin Campbell Cooper, Elliott Daingerfield, and August Franzen formed the Gainsborough Studios corporation, headquartered at 307 Fifth Avenue. The corporation would plan and develop an artists' cooperative apartment on Central Park South.^[2][10] The corporation bought tenements at 222 and 224 Central Park South in April 1907.^[22] Buckham was hired as architect,^[23] and that May, he filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for an eight-story fireproof artists' studio on the site, to cost $300,000.^[2] Wells Bros. Company was awarded the general construction contract in August 1907.^[8] Work started on November 3, 1907, after the existing building had been demolished. The new building officially opened on October 31, 1908.^[24]

At various points in the building's history, residents included artist Montague Flagg, sculptor William Ordway Partridge, and travel writer Thomas Allibone Janvier,^[5] as well as artist Enrico Donati.^[25] One resident of the Gainsborough Studios in the 1910s, John Hemming Fry, became a vice president of the Gainsborough Studios corporation and subsequently developed the nearby Rodin Studios using his experience from the Gainsborough Studios.^[26] During the 1950s, another resident, Donald Deskey, led a renovation of the building's lobby. As part of the project, the ornate iron doors from the original design were replaced with aluminum doors.^[5]

In 1981, the Gainsborough Studios Corporation spent $100,000 on renovating the lobby to its original condition, using historical photographs to create replicas of the original doors.^[5] The terracotta and tile facade degraded over time, and starting in 1988, the building was renovated for $1 million. The colored ceramic tiles were reproduced by hand, the terracotta was partially replaced, and the frieze was recast in concrete.^[27] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission also made the building an official city landmark in 1988,^[28][29] after the renovation had commenced.^[27] By 2004, the Gainsborough Studios had almost entirely become a standard residential suite, and Donati was the last artist remaining in the building.^[30] In the early 21st century, philanthropist Blaine Trump moved into the building as well.^[31]

Upon its completion, the Gainsborough Studios' design was described as "a credit to the ingenuity of the designer".^[11][14] In 1977, architectural writer Paul Goldberger wrote for The New York Times that the facade of the Gainsborough Studios was "far more interesting than anything on 67th Street", praising the Ionic columns at the base and the mosaics at the top.^[32] Christopher Gray wrote for the same paper in 2013 that the building "constitute[d] the first recognition I have seen that the vista north to 110th Street was beginning to be considered special", reflecting on the development boom along Central Park South when the building was completed.^[33]

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets