New York 1911

THC first saw this walking through the National Gallery of Art last year and was taken by the energy and dynamism depicted in the painting by George Bellows (1882-1925), known for his artwork capturing the urban life of New York City.

There is so much going on here.  It's a winter scene.  In the background are the first generation of skyscrapers, with advertisements plastered on some of them and we can see the smoke rising from their heating vents.  There are two streams of traffic, snarled at an intersection at the right.  Moving towards us is a streetcar, while another exits on the left.  It is 1911 so we still see horse drawn transport.  You can feel the vibrancy of a fast-growing city.