Brooklyn Bridge 1929

Ernest Fiene made this lithograph of the Brooklyn Bridge sometime in the 20th century. It’s a study in light and dark that brings to mind those old black and white movies. The soft, powdery texture of the lithographic crayon gives the image a hazy, dreamlike quality. Look how Fiene uses long, vertical strokes to depict the bridge's cables, creating a sense of depth and perspective. The way he contrasts the heavy shadows with the glowing highlights around the lamps gives the bridge a real sense of drama. I also like how he's made the sky a uniform grey, which emphasizes the monumentality of the Bridge. The two figures walking across the bridge feel small and insignificant against the backdrop of this industrial marvel. Artists like Joseph Stella were also working with similar images of the bridge around the same time, so you can see how this subject matter resonated with lots of artists. It's as if Fiene is reminding us of the power of human creation but also our relative insignificance within the urban landscape.