No one depicts New York’s shadows and light like Martin Lewis, who made numerous drypoint etchings of city streets and the people inhabiting them from the 1920s to the 1940s.
“Yorkville Night” reveals a corner under an unnamed elevated train in the postwar city. There’s darkness, but the streetcar tracks, pavement, produce stand, and station stairwells are brightly illuminated, giving us a peek into a fleeting moment in this Upper East Side neighborhood.
The only thing we can’t see are the faces of the people.
See more of Martin Lewis’ work here.
Tags: Elevated Train Yorkville NYC, Elevated trains New York City, Martin Lewis drypoint, Martin Lewis Yorkville Night, New York in the 1940s, Yorkville New York City
May 7, 2018 at 6:50 am |
This is amazing. I studied etching at SVA; thanks for introducing me to this artist who I was unfamiliar with Ephemeral.
The great thing about NY is how some things remain completely the same. Look at the fruit stand! (As we call them people. They are not a “deli”. A “deli” has lox & everything bagels etc. Forgive the digression…). This fruit stand could have been rendered *yesterday*… lol… The only difference would be the amount of plastic containers & fridges inside… Outside it looks the same.
May 7, 2018 at 9:05 am |
This is terrific. I love the people he’s drawn in their late-night activities – perhaps on the way home from the subway. Since it’s entitled “Yorkville Night”, the train would be the Third Avenue El (closed ’73). Strictly speaking, Yorkville was bordered by E 79th and E 96th, 3rd Ave and the East River. The stairs indicate a station stop so, – if the artist was envisioning an actual spot – this Yorkville station would be either E 84 and E 89th. In the “street view” on google maps, there’s a food shop with fruit stand (on the side, tho’) still in a corner building that looks like this one. I love art depicting NYC in other eras. So fascinating!