Richard Haas, City Service Building, 2005

Richard Haas

Signed, titled, dated and numbered in pencil on the front

Pencil signed, numbered 7/20 and dated 2005 in graphite on the front.
Rare print by Richard Haas - the world's foremost architectural muralist and trompe l'oeil artist whose prints and paintings are held and exhibited in many private, public and institutional collections. It is framed and ready to hang. Haas - who, aside from his many artistic distinctions, was profiled several years back by the prestigious CBS News cultural magazine show "Sunday Morning".

From the Landmarks Preservation Commission, NYC
The former Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street is a 66-story skyscraper, rising from a trapezoidal site bounded by Pine Street, Cedar Street, and Pearl Street. An icon of the lower Manhattan skyline, the building’s shaft terminates in a slender pinnacle crowned by an illuminated lantern and stainless steel spire. At the time of completion in 1932, this Art Deco style tower was the tallest structure in lower Manhattan, and at 952 feet, the third tallest structure in the world. Commissioned by a major American corporation, it was an expression of the owner’s success, escalating real estate costs, and the current zoning code that required buildings to diminish in mass as they rise. The Cities Service Company was chartered by Henry L. Doherty in 1910, and quickly grew to become one of the largest corporations in the United States, controlling approximately 150 energy firms in 38 states, including numerous oil and power suppliers. In the late 1920s, Doherty made considerable investments in Manhattan real estate, acquiring 60 Wall Street, which he planned to expand and occupy as his headquarters. When two proposals failed to win the Department of Buildings’ approval, the current site was assembled, costing $2 million. Clinton & Russell, Holton & George served as architect, designing a setback tower, clad with white brick, light gray Indiana limestone, and speckled rose-and-black granite. Thomas J. George is thought to have been the lead designer, enriching the lower floors with stylized reliefs that rival any architectural ornamentation created during the Art Deco period in New York City. Of particular interest is the company’s triangular logo, as well as sunflowers, sunbursts and stepped pyramids, which direct the eye upward and recall the shape of the spire. The northeast and southeast portals are the most distinctive entrances, with four-story-tall archways leading to multistory vestibules connecting the first floor and basement lobbies. At the center of both east portals is a limestone model of the Cities Service Building. In a city crowded with new skyscrapers, this unusual sculptural feature illustrated what had become almost impossible to see – the building in its entirety. Doherty’s headquarters incorporated various innovative features, including escalators linking the lower floors, the city’s first double-deck elevators, and private terraces enclosed by steel railings coated with aluminum lacquer. The opening of the building coincided with Doherty’s return as the company’s chief executive and he intended to occupy the crown as his private triplex. When plans were canceled, the uppermost floor was converted to a public observation gallery, with unsurpassed views of New York harbor. Though completed during the early years of the Great Depression, the Cities Service Building was a modest success. Financed through a public stock offering rather than a mortgage, it reportedly achieved profitability by 1936 and was 90% occupied by 1941. The Cities Service Company was renamed CITGO in 1965 and the building was sold to the American International Group in 1976. Following AIG’s financial collapse in 2008 and a subsequent bailout by the U.S. government, this distinctive tower was acquired by Sahn Eagle LLC in 2009. The Cities Service Building is one of lower Manhattan’s most prominent skyscrapers and one of the finest Art Deco style buildings in New York City.

70 Pine Street (formerly known as the 60 Wall Tower, Cities Service Building, and American International Building) is a 67-story, 952-foot (290 m) residential building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1930 to 1932 by energy conglomerate Cities Service Company (later Citgo), the building was designed by the firm of Clinton & Russell, Holton & George in the Art Deco style. It was Lower Manhattan's tallest building and the world's third-tallest building upon its completion.
70 Pine Street occupies a trapezoidal lot on Pearl Street between Pine and Cedar Streets. It features a brick, limestone, and gneiss facade with numerous setbacks. The building contains an extensive program of ornamentation, including the Cities Service Company's triangular logo and solar motifs. The interior features included escalators at the base and double-deck elevators linking the tower's floors. A three-story penthouse, intended for Cities Service's founder Henry Latham Doherty, was instead used as a public observatory.
70 Pine Street's construction was funded through a public offering of stock, rather than a mortgage loan. Despite having been built during the Great Depression, the building was profitable enough that it broke even by 1936, and 90 percent of its space was occupied five years later. The American International Group (AIG) bought the building in 1976, and it was acquired by another firm in 2009 after AIG went bankrupt. The building and its first floor interior were designated as official New York City landmarks in June 2011. In 2016, the building became a luxury rental residential property.