A painter depicts the moody early 20th century East River as a “landscape of industry”

For centuries, New York City made its fortunes from its riverfronts. But it’s been a long time since the waterways of Gotham were dominated by industrial use. In contemporary Manhattan, rivers are for pristine parks, not derricks, tugboats, and ship traffic.

Jonas Lie’s “Morning on the River” puts the gritty, smoky East River of old back into view. Lie was a Norwegian immigrant known for his Impressionist paintings of harbors and coastlines in the early 20th century.

In this 1912 depiction of the riverfront—a place bustling with energy but no human faces in view—Lie “captures the new American landscape of industry and technology,” states Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, which owns the painting.

“Jonas Lie’s dramatic portrayal juxtaposes the powerful bulk of the bridge with the brilliant morning light reflecting off the icy East River in a drama of humankind versus nature,” states the University of Rochester in a separate document that goes into greater detail. “The modern cityscape has replaced the untamed wilderness as a symbol of America’s progress.”

It’s a captivating, moody painting, and my eye is drawn to the orange glow in the center, perhaps a furnace burning coal or wood for industrial use or to keep the working men warm.