In 1998, artist Daniel Kohn received a grant to take part in World Views, a program organized by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Port Authority of New York that provided studio space for artists in the high floors of the World Trade Center. His work from this period sought to capture the physical presence of the landscape as seen from his studio's vantage point on the 91st floor of Tower One.

Looking South depicts the view south across New York harbor from Fiduciary Trust's reception area on the 94th floor of Tower Two. Importantly, this was not a view Kohn experienced from the space in Tower One, which had views only west over New Jersey and east over Brooklyn. Instead, and thanks to the help of Fiduciary Trust employees and families, who shared personal photographs, a "virtual memory" was reconstructed from which Kohn could work. As such, Looking South is the view of New York harbor as seen from Tower Two through the eyes of Fiduciary employees and their families.

Unveiled in April 2004, Looking South hangs within a four-story interior staircase in Fiduciary Trust's worldwide headquarters at 600 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Composed of four 10-foot square oil-on-canvas panels, the work rises 41 feet from the 4th to the 7th floor of the building.

Ascending the staircase, employees and visitors rise from lower Manhattan, traverse the busy harbor, and ultimately cross the horizon into the sky and clouds. Looking South forms a column of light and color that makes the former view from the World Trade Center central to Fiduciary Trust's new location in Rockefeller Center, a literal and figurative backbone of history that is central to the firm's current operations. The staircase was designed specifically to showcase Looking South. Constructed of glass and steel with bluegreen marble stair treads, it is the only four-story hanging staircase in Manhattan. Starfire glass — the finest, clearest available — was used to minimize distortion of the painting when viewed from various vantage points. The lighting scheme was also especially designed to provide two long columns of even light on either side of the installation. The four panels hang from hightension steel cable hung from the 7th floor and anchored on the 4th.

(Text from Fiduciary Trust Company International)

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