America / 1920
Church Street El
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Church Street El as painting (America · 1920).
Sheeler and his good friend, the poet William Carlos Williams, patronized speakeasies together during Prohibition.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as oil on canvas and credits Charles Sheeler (American, 1883–1965).
The museum's collection notes: Capturing the soaring heights of New York City, this painting is a dramatic bird's-eye view of Broadway and Wall Street, showing a conglomeration of buildings at left and center, and the Church Street elevated train at right. Sheeler based his composition on an image from the short movie Manhatta (1920-21), which he made with the photographer Paul Strand. One of the first avant-garde American films, Manhatta celebrates the dynamic metropolis through a series of carefully composed shots of Lower Manhattan. As typical with Sheeler's work, the artist simplified forms and eliminated textures in Church Street El to concentrate on rhythmic interpla
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtChurch Street ElOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.