Noontime on the Docks, Hudson River and 85th Street 

Robert Julian Onderdonk, a Texan painter who studied with William Merritt Chase, made this oil sketch of the Hudson River docks at 85th Street. Onderdonk was known for his landscapes, and particularly for his paintings of bluebonnets. Here, he turns his attention to the urban landscape of early 20th-century New York. The docks are a site of labor, with the workers and horse-drawn carts rendered in small scale. But what is the artist trying to convey about the relationship between labor and the landscape? Is it possible to create a picturesque image of the working class? Onderdonk’s loose brushwork and the muted palette lends an air of tranquility to the scene, obscuring the labor and commerce that actually took place there. While the scene may seem bucolic, remember that these docks were a point of entry for many immigrants seeking a better life in America. This image offers us a sanitized, romanticized, and class-based vision of a bustling urban center.