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Label Text:
The composition of city views changed dramatically in the late 1840s, when topographical artists focused on the city instead of the surrounding landscape. No longer was the frantic pace of the urban environment disguised by a bucolic foreground. In this view, the foreground is devoted to the movement of ships large and small on the river. The southern tip of Manhattan is on the left, and the spires of several important churches rise above other buildings. By 1850, the population of New York had surged to over 515,000, many of whom were emigrants from Europe. Charles Mottram engraved Hill’s drawing, probably in London, where he produced many reproductive engravings for British print publishers.
Georgia Barnhill, 2014

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1951.80

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