Freemason Street, Rainy Day
Artist
Kenneth Harris
(American, 1904-1983)
Date1950
MediumWatercolor on paper
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/2 x 13 3/4 in. (36.8 x 34.9 cm)
ClassificationsModern art
Credit LineGiven by the Children and Grandchildren of Louis B. and Minnie S. Fine
Object number2000.28
Terms
- Streets
- Norfolk
- Rain
- Brown
- White
- Blue
- Gray
- Black
- Yellow
- Norfolk, Virginia
On View
Not on viewLabel TextKenneth Harris (1904-1983) Freemason Street, Rainy Day, 1950 Watercolor Collection Chrysler Museum of Art, Gift of the Children and Grandchildren of Louis B. and Minnie S. Fine 2000.28 The buildings shown in this watercolor illustrate a succession of architectural styles popular in Norfolk from the turn of the 19th century through the 1880's. The earliest form, a demolished gambrel roofed structure, is only hinted at by the outline of its frame remaining in the common wall of a simple early 19th- century frame house. The Greek Revival style is represented by Christ Church (1828), the elegant white building at center, and by the row of red brick town houses immediately to the left of that church. The Gothic Revival style is seen in the distant silhouette of Freemason Baptist Church (1848). Finally at the far right is a house in the French Second Empire style with its characteristic mansard roof that swept the entire country in the late 19th century. Of the structures shown here, only Freemason Baptist Church remains standing, the rest were demolished by the Norfolk Housing and Redevelopment Authority as part of its bid to revitalize the city. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 08/2005 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 10/18/2005
November 23, 1891
