Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2016.

Untitled (Night View of Brooklyn Bridge)

Artist Joseph Stella (American, 1877 - 1946)

Dateca. 1918

MediumOil on board

Dimensions11 3/4 x 18 5/8 in. (29.8 x 47.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 19 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (49.5 × 67.3 × 4.4 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineBequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number89.53

Terms

New York City
Bridges
street lights
Brooklyn Bridge
Blue
White
Yellow
Abstract
Futurism
Brooklyn
New York

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil on board painting. It is a small study of the Brooklyn Bridge from the vantage point of the ground, looking to the Bridge on the right. The top half of the painting shows diagonal lines, intersecting to form the steel cables. Dots of yellow and white signify lights. The lines, layered over eachother and in every direction, illustrate the movement and energy of the Bridge.

Label TextJoseph Stella American, 1877–1946 Untitled (Night View of Brooklyn Bridge), c. 1918 Oil on board Joseph Stella presents the Brooklyn Bridge as a web of wires and electric lights against the night sky. This explosion of lines overwhelms his small canvas, suggesting the awe he likely felt when crossing from his home in Brooklyn to the studios and galleries of Manhattan. Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge remained in Stella’s day a symbol of modernity, progress, and hope. The painter was fascinated with this wonder of engineering and created both dynamic studies like this work and large formal explorations of the bridge’s complex architectural geometry. Bequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 89.53