Description:
gates of bridge; two arches; buildings seen through openings in bridge
Label Text:
John Taylor Arms was known for his detailed renderings of dramatic views of architectural monuments. An architect by trade, Arms was entirely self-taught as a printmaker, a vocation which began in 1913 when he received an etching kit as a gift from his wife. He became so obsessed with printmaking that he abandoned architecture in 1919 to pursue a full-time career as an artist. Although the majority of his works were of European Gothic buildings, between 1916 and 1922 Arms created fourteen views of New York City where he had lived since 1912. One of his finest prints from this series, Gates of the City is a technically perfect rendering of every brick and cable comprising one of the towers supporting the Brooklyn Bridge. The tower fills the entire picture and frames delicately etched images of the city beyond, imparting a sense of monumentality and grandeur typical of Arms's renderings of Gothic cathedrals. This image stands in contrast with Louis Lozowick' s 1930 lithograph Brooklyn Bridge (on view nearby), in which the composition stresses integration of the bridge as a passageway into the city rather than its role as a gate.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1958.19 |
