US Custom House II

US Custom House II

  • 22 x 23 undefined
  • US dollars

$3,300

US dollars

"US Custom House II" focuses on a laurel-crowned head above the main entrance of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at Bowling Green, in Lower Manhattan. Cass Gilbert designed the building, which rose between 1902 and 1907 as headquarters for the Port of New York's customs operation. Since 1994 it has housed the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Unlike the stronger contrasts of "US Custom House," this painting is built from reflected light. Soft lavender, gray, ochre and pale yellow move across the stone, with warmer light gathering along the face and the projecting edges of the ornament. The shifts are subtle, but they separate one form from another and give weight to the tightly interlocking shapes. Shadow is usually cooled to push it back. Here it was underpainted warm, so the recesses hold light instead of losing it. Selected for Splash 13: The Best of Watercolor, Alternative Approaches, edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf. * Framing: Framed; frame not shown * Room view: For scale and presentation only

December, 2010
Watercolor painting
Effigy, Figure, Landmark, NYC
  • US dollars

$3,300

US dollars

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