It’s a lonely experience in “Entrance to Subway,” by New York City painter Mark Rothko, part of his “subway series” completed in the late 1930s. These paintings depicted the disconnection of modern urban life.
“In the mid-1930s Mark Rothko began a series of works with subjects derived from the urban experience that became known as the Subway series,” writes the Brooklyn Museum. “These paintings reflect the artist’s sense of isolation, shared by many at the time, that resulted from the harsh social conditions caused by the Great Depression.”
No word on which station Rothko, who had a studio on 53rd Street, painted here. But I love the wooden turnstiles.
Tags: abstract expressionist painters, Depression-era New York City, Mark Rothko, New York in the 1930s, New York painters, Rothko Entrance to Subway, Rothko Subway Series
Ephemeral New York 
June 13, 2011 at 2:00 pm |
Those tiles with the letter “N” ought to give a clue. Maybe Nassau Street? Not Nevins Street, I’m pretty sure.
June 13, 2011 at 4:22 pm |
Nassau Street is a possibility—it’s old and had wooden turnstiles.
June 14, 2011 at 7:16 pm |
this is great,, love reading about the old days,, wish I could find were the CLARAGH hotel used to be ??
December 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm |
What a fantastic site for anyone who loves NYC. I lived here my entire life and am enthralled with many of your postings. I may have caught wind on perhaps 50% of the info
contained here.
Love it.
December 20, 2012 at 4:19 pm |
Thanks so much!
April 22, 2013 at 2:09 am |
[…] An earlier post on the most famous painting in the Subway Series. […]