There are 2 other images of this object. See our image rights statement.
Object Timeline
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1929 |
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1930 |
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1992 |
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2016 |
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2017 |
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2024 |
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Drawing, Abstract Cityscape
This is a Drawing. It was designed by Winold Reiss. It is dated 1929–30 and we acquired it in 1992. Its medium is graphite, orange crayon on wove paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
As a young man, Winold Reiss trained as an artist in Munich before immigrating to America in 1913. As a working artist in New York City, he established a reputation for producing bold graphics and colorful modern interiors. During the 1920s, he was hired to illustrate important figures of the Harlem Renaissance for several publications. This abstract illustration of a cityscape is likely a preparatory study for a commission. The jumbled, angular rendering suggests the hyperactive nature of an urban environment enduring rapid growth.
This object was
donated by
Anonymous.
It is credited Gift of Anonymous Donor.
- Painting, Brooklyn Bridge
- oil on canvas.
- Lent by Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Collection Société Anonyme,....
- 65.2016.9
![An image of a figure with wings, riding on a fast-moving horse traveling in an angle downward and towards the left of the painting, amid layers of irregular, overlapping shapes in pale tones of green, brown, yellow, blue, and orange. Stars are overlaid on the left side of the painting with wavy lines emanating from the horse's nostril and across the painting and again, partially near the bottom quarter of the piece. Arcs overlap along the bottom left corner along with other, more fractured shapes throughout. The overall style is angular and somewhat flat, echoing features of Art Deco and cubism. Some brush strokes are visible, especially on the horse, with its long tail and jagged mane. The rear legs are outstretched as though the horse is flying. In fact, the piece depicts the angel of death, with wings borrowed from the archangel Gabriel, racing down from the heavens on horseback to rescue a woman from a life of suffering. The piece was one of seven included as part of a collaboration with noted author and civil rights advocate James Weldon Johnson's Harlem Renaissance-era book, God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, 1927. The original medium was oil on masonite, a type of hardboard, a kind of engineered wood, which is made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers. The artist's signature, [A. Douglas] is noted near the bottom right corner, and the painting has a black border.](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/325347_e52029cd2bb063fe_n.jpg "Object ID #1108760847")
- Object ID #1108760847
- oil on masonite.
- The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Prof. and....
- 48.2016.19
- Drawing, Four Figures with Sun
- graphite on cream wove paper.
- Gift of Anonymous Donor.
- 1992-128-1
Our curators have highlighted 10 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Drawing, Study for Painting, Skyscrapers
- graphite on paper, lined.
- Gift of Elaine Lustig Cohen.
- 2000-20-14
- Wastebasket, Wastebasket
- wood, paint, silver leaf.
- Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler.
- 2018-29-2
- Hanging, New York Waterfront
- silk.
- Gift of Lydia Bush-Brown.
- 1974-23-6
Its dimensions are
H x W: 14 × 21.5 cm (5 1/2 × 8 7/16 in.)
It has the following markings
Stamp on verso in brown ink, lower left: Winold/Reiss
Cite this object as
Drawing, Abstract Cityscape; Designed by Winold Reiss (American, b. Germany, 1886–1953); USA; graphite, orange crayon on wove paper; H x W: 14 × 21.5 cm (5 1/2 × 8 7/16 in.); Gift of Anonymous Donor; 1992-127-1
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.
