National Gallery of Art, Washington
February 26 through August 6, 2017
American artists of
the early 20th century sought to interpret the beauty, power, and
anxiety of the modern age in diverse ways. Through depictions of
bustling city crowds and breathtaking metropolitan vistas, 25
black-and-white prints on view in The Urban Scene: 1920–1950
will explore the spectacle of urban modernity. Prints by recognized
artists such as Louis Lozowick (1892–1973) and Reginald Marsh
(1898–1954), as well as lesser-known artists including Mabel Dwight
(1875–1955), Gerald Geerlings (1897–1998), Victoria Hutson Huntley
(1900–1971), Martin Lewis (1881–1962), and Stow Wengenroth (1906–1978),
are included in this exhibition.
The Urban Scene will be on view in the West Building from February 26 through August 6, 2017.
"During the past decade the Gallery has acquired extraordinary groups of prints from the Reba and Dave Williams Collection, the Corcoran Collection, and the collection of Bob Stana and Tom Judy," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "We are thankful for the generosity of these donors and for the opportunities that have allowed the Gallery's American print holdings to grow in both richness and depth."
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The black-and-white prints that comprise The Urban Scene, most of which were acquired in the last ten years, often highlight the unprecedented scale of urban architecture and the impact of industry and technology on city life. From one perspective, skyscrapers, bridges, and other technological marvels projected wealth, opportunity, and invoked the sublime, but from another these structures could be interpreted as blocking light, deepening shadows, heightening a sense of enclosure and confinement, and amplifying feelings of diminution and anonymity.
The artists featured in this exhibition chose their subjects, arranged their compositions, and scrutinized details to convey particular aspects of urban life. They used line to capture the specifics of a face or the idiosyncrasies of a building and manipulated tone to mimic the play of light. Employing precise detail and descriptive clarity to characterize experience, suggest meaning, and convey a narrative, certain elements were emphasized while others were minimized, resulting in images distilled to their narrative or atmospheric essence.
Exhibition Curator
The exhibition is organized by Charles Ritchie, associate curator, department of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art.
Benton Murdoch Spruance
Martin Lewis
Millard
Owen Sheets
Thomas
Willoughby Nason
The Urban Scene will be on view in the West Building from February 26 through August 6, 2017.
"During the past decade the Gallery has acquired extraordinary groups of prints from the Reba and Dave Williams Collection, the Corcoran Collection, and the collection of Bob Stana and Tom Judy," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "We are thankful for the generosity of these donors and for the opportunities that have allowed the Gallery's American print holdings to grow in both richness and depth."
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The black-and-white prints that comprise The Urban Scene, most of which were acquired in the last ten years, often highlight the unprecedented scale of urban architecture and the impact of industry and technology on city life. From one perspective, skyscrapers, bridges, and other technological marvels projected wealth, opportunity, and invoked the sublime, but from another these structures could be interpreted as blocking light, deepening shadows, heightening a sense of enclosure and confinement, and amplifying feelings of diminution and anonymity.
The artists featured in this exhibition chose their subjects, arranged their compositions, and scrutinized details to convey particular aspects of urban life. They used line to capture the specifics of a face or the idiosyncrasies of a building and manipulated tone to mimic the play of light. Employing precise detail and descriptive clarity to characterize experience, suggest meaning, and convey a narrative, certain elements were emphasized while others were minimized, resulting in images distilled to their narrative or atmospheric essence.
Exhibition Curator
The exhibition is organized by Charles Ritchie, associate curator, department of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art.
Martin
Lewis
Quarter
of Nine - Saturday's Children, 1929
drypoint
on laid paper
plate:
25.1 x 32.7 cm (9 7/8 x 12 7/8 in.)
sheet:
34 x 45.7 cm (13 3/8 x 18 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Addie Burr Clark
Mabel
Dwight
The
Clinch, 1928
lithograph
image:
230 x 297 mm
sheet:
291 x 407 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Paul
Cadmus
Shore
Leave, 1935
etching
in black on laid paper
image:
25.4 x 28.26 cm (10 x 11 1/8 in.)
plate:
26.35 x 29.53 cm (10 3/8 x 11 5/8 in.)
sheet:
33.97 x 38.1 cm (13 3/8 x 15 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr
Fund and Gift
of the Print Research Foundation
Reynold
Weidenaar
Locomotive
Shops, 1947
etching
and aquatint
unframed:
12 7/8 x 16 7/8 in. (32.7 x 42.86 cm)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Frank B. Bristow)
Benton Murdoch Spruance
The
People Work - Evening, 1937
lithograph
in black
image:
34.61 x 48.26 cm (13 5/8 x 19 in.)
sheet:
40.64 x 58.1 cm (16 x 22 7/8 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection
Reginald
Marsh
Tattoo-Shave-Haircut,
1932
etching
and engraving
unframed:
10 x 9 1/2 in. (25.4 x 24.13 cm)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Olga Hirshhorn)
File
Name: 4842-010.jpg
Clare
Leighton
Breadline,
New York, 1931
wood
engraving
Image:
298 x 200 mm
Sheet:
444 x 293 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Victoria
Hutson Huntley
Lower
New York, 1934
lithograph
in black on wove paper
image:
25.72 x 34.61 cm (10 1/8 x 13 5/8 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy
Martin Lewis
Building
a Babylon, Tudor City, N.Y.C., 1929
etching,
drypoint
overall:
32.7 x 20 cm (12 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy
Family
Flats, 1935
lithograph
image:
390 x 567 mm
sheet:
457 x 617 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Lawrence
Edward Kupferman
Victorian
Mansion, 1938
drypoint
in black on laid paper
plate:
35.72 x 32.54 cm (14 1/16 x 12 13/16 in.)
sheet:
38.89 x 35.4 cm (15 5/16 x 13 15/16 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Martin
Lewis
Yorkville
Night, 1948
drypoint
sheet:
10 7/8 x 14 3/4 in. (27.62 x 37.47 cm)
image:
8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (21.59 x 29.21 cm)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Frank B. Bristow)
Stow
Wengenroth
Quiet
Hour, 1947
lithograph
image:
8 3/4 x 15 in. (22.23 x 38.1 cm)
sheet:
11 1/16 x 17 11/16 in. (28.1 x 44.93 cm)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Frank B. Bristow)
:
John
Taylor Arms
West
Forty-Second Street, Night, 1922
aquatint
and etching in blue black and yellow on yellow laid paper
plate:
26.99 x 17.46 cm (10 5/8 x 6 7/8 in.)
sheet:
46.04 x 29.21 cm (18 1/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Donald and Nancy deLaski Fund
Armin
Landeck
View
of New York, 1932
lithograph
in black on wove paper
image:
68.9 x 59.7 cm (27 1/8 x 23 1/2 in.)
sheet:
80 x 64.1 cm (31 1/2 x 25 1/4 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Louis
Lozowick
Allen
Street, 1929
lithograph
in black on wove paper
image:
19.1 x 28.5 cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.)
sheet:
28.2 x 40 cm (11 1/8 x 15 3/4 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Jacob Kainen
Asa
Cheffetz
Monday
(The American Scene), 1932
wood
engraving on paper
overall:
17.78 x 25.4 cm (7 x 10 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Promised Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy
Howard
Norton Cook
Looking
up Broadway, 1937
lithograph
Image:
330 x 241 mm
Sheet:
450 x 315 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Isac
Friedlander
3
A.M., 1934
etching
on wove paper
plate:
24.13 x 39.69 cm (9 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.)
sheet:
32.07 x 46.67 cm (12 5/8 x 18 3/8 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection
Samuel
L. Margolies
Men
of Steel, c. 1939
drypoint
image:
378 x 300 mm
sheet:
476 x 381 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Robert
Riggs
Germantown
& Chelten, c. 1950
lithograph
in black on wove paper
image:
35.56 x 51.12 cm (14 x 20 1/8 in.)
sheet:
40.64 x 58.1 cm (16 x 22 7/8 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr
Fund and Gift
of the Print Research Foundation
Louisburg
Square, 1930
wood
engraving
Image:
176 x 201 mm
Sheet:
244 x 252 mm
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
Edward
Arthur Wilson
Untitled
(Laying Pipe in New York City), 1941
lithograph
in black on wove paper
image:
27.94 x 33.02 cm (11 x 13 in.)
sheet:
34.29 x 48.9 cm (13 1/2 x 19 1/4 in.)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and
Dave Williams
