Collections: American Art: View of Lower Manhattan

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View of Lower Manhattan

Herzl Emanuel has vivid recollections about the origins of this work:

Upon returning to the U.S. from four years in Paris, I found a studio on Columbia Heights in Brooklyn. It had a rear garden from which I could see the grand bridge majestically spanning the East River to the distant cluster of towering buildings of lower Manhattan. The assortment of visual elements was extremely rich . . . the astonishing structure of the bridge itself, the varied shapes and architectural styles of the soaring buildings, the river traffic, the streets paved with cobble stones, brick walls and archways, steps and streetcar tracks and overhead, banks of cumulous clouds. . . . The challenge was to organize all this seductive material into a coherent structure. My efforts at the time clearly reflected my immersion with the cubist development.


• Artist: Herzl Emanuel, American, 1914-2002
• Medium: Bronze
• Dates: modeled 1937
• Dimensions: 8 1/4 x 23 13/16 x 1 1/4 in. (21 x 60.5 x 3.2 cm)
• Signature: Inscribed in lower left corner: "EMANUEL '37"; and along bottom edge at right: "EMANUEL [incised] 5/6 [stamped] '37 [incised]"
• Collections: American Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 1996.186
• Credit Line: Purchase gift of the Richard Florsheim Art Fund
• Image: Overall, 1996.186_transp658.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Herzl Emanuel (American, 1914-2002). View of Lower Manhattan, modeled 1937. Bronze, 8 1/4 x 23 13/16 x 1 1/4 in. (21 x 60.5 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchase gift of the Richard Florsheim Art Fund, 1996.186 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.186_transp658.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Rectangular relief plaque with Cubistic portrayal of Lower Manhattan: fragments of buildings, cobbled streets, arches, the Brooklyn Bridge, water, and a sign or banner with "S" juxtaposed at different angles. Condition: Good