Lithograph #41 (Visionary City) 1931

William Samuel Schwartz made this lithograph, a black and white image of a 'Visionary City,' sometime in the 20th century. I love how the city emerges, a mountain of shapes built from strong diagonal lines and curves. I imagine Schwartz, hunched over the lithographic stone, carefully layering the ink to construct this monument. What was he thinking? It feels very much like art deco, that moment between the wars where artists looked to machines for inspiration. The city rises like a stepped ziggurat, sharp towers of progress and possibility. There’s something optimistic about it, a real faith in the future that you feel in every swoop of his lithographic crayon. It reminds me of some of Hugh Ferris’ architectural drawings, all that hard-edged streamlining. Like he’s saying, let’s build something that scrapes the sky. Something utopian, strong and brave.