This painting was executed from the corridor window outside of the apartment of the poet and art critic David Shapiro, during the winters of 1981–82 and 1982–83. According to the artist, he placed his easel to the right of the window "which accounts for some of the extreme tilting effect on the left of the painting." This panoramic scene "was originally chosen because it was a good spot to work in cold and wet weather, but also provided a vantage point onto a highly diverse group of buildings and structures evocative of many aspects of city life ... The title is intended to be geographically specific, so that all elements of the scene may be easily identifiable." Downes noted that soon after this picture, he stopped painting bird's eye views and considered this work to be "one of the more poignant urban views I've done."
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Artwork Details
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Title:IRT Elevated Station at Broadway and 125th Street
Artist:Rackstraw Downes (American (born England) 1939)
Date:1981–83
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:25 × 47 1/2 in. (63.5 × 120.7 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Louis and Bessie Adler Foundation Inc. Gift (Seymour M. Klein, President), 1984
Object Number:1984.93
Inscription: Signed (lower right): R. D.
the artist, New York (until 1984, sold through Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York to MMA)
New York. Hirschl & Adler Modern. "Rackstraw Downes," February 11–March 10, 1984, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Aspects of the City," July 31–September 30, 1984, no catalogue.
Mexico City. Museo Rufino Tamayo. "Nueva Pintura Narrativa: Coleccion del Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York," November–December 1984, no. 11.
Bronx Museum of the Arts. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 2–March 24, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 17–June 2, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Queens. Jamaica Arts Center. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 15–July 27, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Staten Island Museum. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 8–October 20, 1985, unnum. brochure.
New York. City College of New York. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25–December 13, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Albany Institute of History & Art. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," July 22–September 18, 1988, unnumbered cat.
College Art Gallery, State University College New Paltz. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," October 9–November 25, 1988, unnumbered cat.
Yonkers. Hudson River Museum. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," December 11, 1988–February 26, 1989, unnumbered cat.
Lisa M. Messinger in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1983–1984. New York, 1984, p. 100, ill. p. 101.
Lisa M. Messinger in William S. Lieberman. Nueva Pintura Narrativa: Coleccion del Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York. Exh. cat., Museo Rufino Tamayo. Mexico City, 1984, pp. 14, 42, ill.
Mark Riebling. "'Aspects of the City' Mixes Variety of Artists and Styles." Columbia Daily Spectator (September 7, 1984), p. 5.
Lowery S. Sims. The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. brochure, Bronx Museum of the Arts. New York, 1985, unpaginated.
Edward Hopper (American, Nyack, New York 1882–1967 New York)
1930
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