Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wrote his poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry in 1856, extolling connections—Manhattan to Brooklyn, humankind to nature, person to person, and past to future. Today, passages from the poem adorn the railings at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Bridge now soars above the site. Opened in 1883, it is one of 21 vehicular, railroad and pedestrian bridges and 15 tunnels that connect the island of Manhattan to the rest of the world.
Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, East River, Between Bridges. NY, oil on board, 20 x 44", by Daniel Cuervo.
Even in Whitman’s day, the contrast between the hustle and bustle of Manhattan contrasted with his “beautiful hills of Brooklyn.” In 1941, Carson McCullers (1917-1967), who wrote The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, said, “Comparing the Brooklyn that I know with Manhattan is like comparing a comfortable and complacent duenna to her more brilliant and neurotic sister.”
Clockwise from top left: George Billis Gallery, Footbridge, acrylic on canvas, 31 x 42¼", by Bennett Vadnais; Donald Yatomi, Tower Theater 008, oil on canvas, 24 x 24"; Hirschl & Adler Modern, Bridges from 67, oil on linen, 12 x 18", by Diana Horowitz; Donald Yatomi, Steel & Polyester, oil on canvas, 48 x 48"
In 1909, a little farther north in Brooklyn, the Manhattan Bridge opened on New Year’s Eve.
The Spanish artist Daniel Cuervo has painted the hyperrealistic East River, Between Bridges. NY, the pleasant center of creative activity known as DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). Water laps at the shore as people stroll along the shops in the restored warehouses and boats cruise the river. Across it, One World Trade Center rises at the south end of Manhattan and just at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, One Manhattan Tower, with its million-dollar condominiums, dwarfs its surroundings.
Kim VanDerHoek, A Capitol View, oil, 10 x 10"
Cuervo meticulously records what he sees with an “eye that is neither critical nor nostalgic.” Neither the eye nor the camera can take in, in one glance, the broad vista that he presents in his composition. The exaggerated vista, however, captures the feeling of a moment or a series of moments as the eye scans the scene between the bridges.
Frank M. Costantino, HANCOCK AXIAL, watercolor on paper, 13½ x 9½"
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) commented, “I once got a little camera to use for details of architecture and so forth, but the photo was always so different from the perspective the eye gives, I gave it up.”
Diana Horwitz paints the scene from above and from across the river in Bridges from 67. Her first 10 years were spent living in a tall building in Washington Heights, a high point on the island of Manhattan. Later, in the mid-’80s, she painted from the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. She returned to the area to paint from the 48th floor of the reconstructed 7 World Trade Center.
From her elevated studios she developed a sense of the formality of the city as opposed to the detail Cuervo was immersed in at ground level. The city’s buildings—and its bridges—become geometric shapes with little detail in her paintings of atmospheric abstraction.
Kim VanDerHoek, To The Moon and Back, oil, 40 x 30"
In Footbridge, Bennett Vadnais painted the Wards Island Bridge, or the 103rd Street Footbridge, at the other end of Manhattan. Framed beneath its span is the Manhattan Psychiatric Center. It is a much humbler bridge than those in downtown, but it is elegant in its simplicity. Vadnais spends time in the environment observing and making sketches before returning to his studio. If his sketches and memory don’t serve him well, he returns to a site at the same time of day to resolve his questions. In his paintings he often combines techniques of applying the paint—techniques he studied in the works of the masters he saw in Europe while on two travel grants.
Celebration of Fine Art, In the Moment, oil, 60 x 60", by Matthew Sievers.
Along with these works, the other artwork in this section offers unique perspectives of cities. Each piece helps define these human-made metropolises and shows off the intimate moments, the bustling moments, the vast views and the hidden life around every corner. There are more rural settings as well, showing the quieter moments of life.
Richard Baker, Penthouse View, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"; Frank M. Costantino, 222 BERKELEY STREET BOSTON, graphite pencils on vellum, 23½ x 15½"
For his artwork, Donald Yatomi is always searching for “the unromantic and unattractive topics and spaces.” These can be junkyards, such as in Junkyard, Row M, or the juxtapositions of city life with those who are experiencing homelessness as seen in Steel & Polyester. Once he finds the subject matter, the challenge is then “depicting it onto canvas as a direct invitation for the viewer to experience.” Yatomi is represented by A Gallery/Allen+Alan Fine Art in Salt Lake City; Peterson Contemporary Art in Bend, Oregon; and Lovetts Fine Art Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Emile Dillon, Subway, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36"
Kim VanDerHoek is inspired by scenes that have a moody and mysterious atmosphere that she believes can be a challenge to convey in oil paint. “To capture those feelings, I balance careful rendering using a brush with abstraction techniques,” says VanDerHoek. “Manipulating paint with tools like palette knives, color shapers and squeegees helps me discover unexpected ways of rendering that include a variety of paint textures.”
Donald Yatomi, Junkyard, Row M, oil on canvas, 12 x 36"
Artist Frank M. Costantino says, “Urban views require discernment—that artist’s eye—for achieving an effective composition, together with acquired skills in media to create an engaging piece of artwork.” His work HANCOCK AXIAL depicts an evening aerial view of I.M. Pei’s John Hancock Tower in Boston’s Back Bay with “the conceptual addition of a secondary lower, green tower with the Boylston Street corridor. An invented port opening is also suggested by the green tower’s steaming plume, breaking through the plane of the larger building,” says the artist. “A glimpsed view of the older, lighted John Hancock Tower is in the lower left, and the shaded profiles of both the city’s iconic Public Library and Trinity Church show in the lower right. An edge of a lit sister tower, the Prudential Center, hugs the right edge of this piece, and the suggestive lights and haze of the urban environs fade into the background.” Another piece, 222 BERKELEY STREET BOSTON, is also of the Back Bay area of Boston showing three buildings created by Robert A.M. Stern, Philip Johnson and I.M. Pei. The works are available now as only limited editon prints.
Celebration of Fine Art, Phoenix, mixed media, 36 x 60", by Aileen Frick.
“I have always been interested in and fascinated by old movie theaters, motels, diners and other buildings that are rapidly vanishing away,” says artist Emile Dillon. “It is important for me through my art to keep the memories of these things alive for future generations to see.” One of his latest paintings is Subway, depicting a view from inside a New York City Subway station looking into an open car ready to accept passengers or let those off who are at their stop. Dillon’s artwork is available at Skidmore Contemporary Art Gallery in Santa Monica, California.
Celebration of Fine Art is a 10-week event dedicated to showcasing the creations of 100 artists in working studios. The artists featured create works in a variety of mediums and subject matter making it a dynamic event for collectors of all types. Artists who create city-oriented work include Aileen Frick, who is a mixed media artist; photographer Jon Linton; and painter Matthew Sievers.
Kim VanDerHoek, Broad Street View, oil, 24 x 36"; Celebration of Fine Art, Barriolo, photography, by Jon Linton.
“There’s no place where the art comes to life like the Celebration of Fine Art,” says Susan Morrow Potje, co-owner and show director. “Over the course of our 31-year history, the Celebration of Fine Art has remained a place for artists and art lovers to connect in a meaningful way. And this year, it’s all about discovery and experience. Discovering and experiencing new artists, mediums and artwork. This year, we’ll welcome many returning artists along with some new faces. It’s truly going to be a spectacular show.” —
Featured Artists & Galleries
Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts
186 State Street, Binghampton, NY 13901 (607) 772-0485, www.anthonybrunelli.com
Celebration of Fine Art
18400 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
(480) 443-7695, www.celebrateart.com
Donald Yatomi
(541) 350-8745, www.donaldyatomi.com
Emile Dillon
Represented by Skidmore Contemporary Art Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, #B-4
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 828-5070
www.skidmorecontemporaryart.com
Frank M. Costantino
3-B Pauline Street, Winthrop, MA 02152 (617) 846-4480
www.fmcostantino.com/gallery
George Billis Gallery
166 N. Main Street, Westport, CT 06880
(203) 557-9130, www.georgebillis.com
Hirschl & Adler Modern
The Fuller Building
41 E. 57th Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 535-8810, www.hirschlandadler.com
Kim VanDerHoek
kimvander77@aol.com
www.kimvanderhoek.com
Richard Baker
www.richardbakerpaintings.com
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