Red Grooms’s The Bookstore

Renowned as a cultural icon since the Pop art movement of the 1960s, Red Grooms has forged an illustrious career marked by his mastery of painting and sculpture and characterized by bright colors, expressionist verve, and theatricality. In 1979, the Hudson River Museum unveiled The Bookstore, a commission and tribute to the allure of books, epitomized through an unexpected yet thrilling mash-up of the stately Pierpont Morgan Library and the eclectic Mendoza Book Company.

The resulting masterpiece, which Grooms calls a “sculpto-pictorama,” incorporates many of the themes that are present throughout his body of work: the marriage of art and commerce, the clash of high and low, and humor—all arranged in a compelling three-dimensional space. The immersive installation holds a special place at the Museum, whose millions of visitors have experienced this beloved and witty work of art.

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of The Bookstore in 2024, the Museum showcased the artist’s unique and exciting artistic process with never-before-seen preparatory drawings in Red Grooms: Drawing “The Bookstore.” While conceiving the work, Grooms soaked up the ambiance of each location through extensive sketches and reenvisioned the scenes around him. Many of his recorded vignettes found their way into the final artwork, from the monumental fireplace and ornate ceiling decorations of the Morgan to the overflowing bookshelves and pressed-tin ceiling of Mendoza.

On September 7, 2024, Laura Vookles, Chair of the Curatorial Department, interviewed painter and sculptor Tom Burckhardt, who assisted Red Grooms in his large-scale creations for many years.