Manhattan Mosaic
George Copeland Ault
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
In Manhattan Mosaic, George Copeland Ault’s narrow view of urban rooftops transforms the buildings into an abstract mosaic in which architectural elements are considered purely as an aesthetic arrangement of planes and angles. The play of overlapping shapes, the harmonious blend of brown tonalities, and the deep shadows created by strong light emphasize the rich visual geometries of the modern city. At the same time, the composition’s tightly enclosed rooftop space reveals only a small view of the sky in the distance, suggesting a feeling of claustrophobia and anxiety that some associated with urban life.
Caption
George Copeland Ault (American, 1891–1948). Manhattan Mosaic, 1947. Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 18 in. (81 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 37 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (95.3 x 59.7 x 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 66.127. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Manhattan Mosaic
Date
1947
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
31 7/8 x 18 in. (81 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 37 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (95.3 x 59.7 x 7 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower left: "G. C. Ault '47"
Credit Line
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
Accession Number
66.127
Frequent Art Questions
Tell me more about this, please!
George Copeland Ault was inspired by the urban landscape of New York City from the 1920s onward. In this work, he simplifies shape and form to show New York's architecture.Ault was associated with Precisionism, which focused on reducing the compositions to their barest, geometric forms. Here Ault does that with the rooftops and skyscrapers of New York. The "mosaic" aspect of the painting's title is very interesting to me. The different geometric shapes of the building do seem to come together in a mosaic-like pattern. Lots of small squares!Thank you!What's going on here?
I love the title of this work because it makes me think about the view frommy own window in a different way. Ault's flattened and sharply defined approach to painting led scholars to call him a "Precisionist."The longer you look at this, the spookier it gets. There are no human inhabitants in this version Manhattan and there is only tiny patch of sky, making it all feel a bit dismal.The George Ault painting would fit really well in the current show on Machines I saw in San Francisco. Why don’t I see your collection more? Does Brooklyn not loan artwork?
We do loan work often, actually! We even lent a different work to that very show. When it comes to loaning an individual work, the process is almost always initiated by whoever is curating the show.In this case of this particular painting, either the curator did not ask to include it or there was some reason it could not travel.
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