Harlem River Bridges 1940

Elizabeth Olds made this dreamy print of the Harlem River Bridges; a landscape captured with a soft color palette, almost pastel, a method that she probably found in a children's book. I can imagine her, maybe in the early morning or late afternoon, watching the light change over the water and steel. What a dance of observation and invention! Olds has broken down the complexity of bridges, river, buildings, and boats into planes of color. There’s a simplification and abstraction that’s so confident and assured. I love the little puffs of smoke on the riverboat and the way she's described all the bridges: each distinct in its own way, but so united. The whole thing is very matter-of-fact, not romantic or gushy; no one's shouting or crying. The mood is contemplative. Olds, like so many artists, was in conversation with a long lineage of landscape painters, from the Hudson River School to Impressionism. She took what she learned and translated it into her own time, her own place, and her own vision. And now, we get to share in that vision too. What a gift!