The Emerald Tower
Isabel Lydia Whitney
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Modernizing the Urban Landscape
By the late 1920s, signs of modernization and industrialization were intruding on the residential neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, where Isabel Lydia Whitney grew up. The Emerald Tower and The Blue Peter are part of a series of works Whitney painted about 1927 of the changing area. Exhibited in 1928, the series was praised for its honest depiction of the American scene and “the poignancy of transition.”
In The Emerald Tower, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge is relegated to the far distance, and the painting is dominated instead by the new Squibb building, part of a manufacturing plant for a pharmaceutical company. The masts, smokestacks, and rigging seen in The Blue Peter hint at the encroachment of waterfront commerce.
By the late 1920s, signs of modernization and industrialization were intruding on the residential neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, where Isabel Lydia Whitney grew up. The Emerald Tower and The Blue Peter are part of a series of works Whitney painted about 1927 of the changing area. Exhibited in 1928, the series was praised for its honest depiction of the American scene and “the poignancy of transition.”
In The Emerald Tower, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge is relegated to the far distance, and the painting is dominated instead by the new Squibb building, part of a manufacturing plant for a pharmaceutical company. The masts, smokestacks, and rigging seen in The Blue Peter hint at the encroachment of waterfront commerce.
Caption
Isabel Lydia Whitney (American, 1884–1962). The Emerald Tower, 1927–1928. Oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 27 x 21 x 2 in. (68.6 x 53.3 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. James H. Hayes, 54.18. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
The Emerald Tower
Date
1927–1928
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 27 x 21 x 2 in. (68.6 x 53.3 x 5.1 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower right: "Isabel Whitney"
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. James H. Hayes
Accession Number
54.18
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