Interior, Harlem River c. 1935 - 1943

Julius Tanzer made this small, grey, and incredibly detailed lithograph of the Harlem River sometime in the mid-twentieth century. You can almost smell the river and feel the grit of the city in this intimate interior scene. I'm really drawn to the way Tanzer handles light and shadow here. I can imagine him, hunkered down, squinting at the scene, trying to capture every little detail with his lithographic crayon. The perspective is a little wonky, but that just adds to the charm, right? I find myself wondering about the guy running down the pier. Where's he going? What's he running from? The barber's pole is also so amazing. It lends a kind of surreal atmosphere, and shows us a particular story about life near the river. This lithograph feels like a glimpse into a hidden world, like a secret whispered across time. I love that, as artists, we can all be in conversation like this.