Photo: Trevor Lloyd
Two limestone bas-relief sculptures on the face of the Bonwit Teller Building were destroyed by 33 year-old real estate developer Donald Trump in 1980, on the basis that “the merit of these stones was not great enough to justify the effort to save them.” Prior to demolition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art had expressed great interest in acquiring the panels, yet Trump’s construction crew destroyed the Art-Deco sculptures without warning. A New York Times article covered the scandal as an affront to the artistic history of New York City, yet Trump showed no remorse, claiming financial responsibility as his main motive of action. To his claim, the value of the sculptures did not exceed a single day’s worth of waiting to build Trump Tower.
