Paintings on Canvas: Brooklyn Bridge Paintings
All images copyright ©2017 Joe Novak. All rights reserved.
The Brooklyn Bridge was designed and built by John Roebling, a German-born civil engineer, and has been hailed as an engineering wonder. Completed in 1883, the design and construction of the bridge fused an innovative cable suspension system with historical references to the past, particularly the great gothic arches of its towers. It has been recognized as a symbol of the modern city by visual artists such as Joseph Stella, John Marin and Georgia O’Keeffe. My own relationship with the bridge goes back to the 1970’s and 1980’s when I lived in a south facing penthouse at One Fifth Avenue. The bridge was visible from my apartment windows, and when lit up at night resembled strings of pearls. On May 24, 1983, the centennial of the bridge was celebrated with a spectacular display of fireworks. To me, the Brooklyn Bridge is the most interesting architectural gem in New York City, where I lived from 1956 until 2003. My strong feelings for it and for New York are apparent from the chapter titled “New York City” in my memoir, “Something To Do With Wings”. In 2014 I painted a 22 x 30" watercolor of the Brooklyn Bridge, and in 2017-2018, a series of 12 canvas oil paintings of the bridge in a numbered series, each 30" x 40" (or 40" x 30"), and two additional smaller oil paintings. In a way, this series of paintings is similar to the series of paintings of the Eiffel Tower done in the early years of the 20th century by the French painter, Robert Delaunay, for which he undoubtedly felt a similar attachment. |
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