Skyline c. 1939

Curator: This is Eleanor Coen's "Skyline," a cityscape created around 1939 using charcoal and pencil. What are your initial impressions? Editor: There's an undeniable starkness, almost unsettling. The high contrast, the textures—it feels industrial and worn. Curator: Absolutely. Coen, as part of the Ashcan School, was invested in portraying urban life as it truly was, revealing social realities often ignored in mainstream art. Note how the "skyline" is composed not of glorious skyscrapers, but the backs of buildings and rooftops. What might that suggest about representation? Editor: Well, the material realities are laid bare, right? This isn’t some idealized vista. You see the grit, the close quarters. It emphasizes the everyday, the mundane elements of the built environment and how people are crowded in by it. The work in terms of labor is implicit, the energy it takes to extract from materials this representation is telling. Curator: Precisely! The elevated viewpoint denies the viewer a position of power, making us level with or even beneath the architecture, as if lost in the urban fabric. This raises critical questions about who gets to control space, whose perspectives are valued, and who is left behind. Editor: And look at how she handles charcoal. The smudging, the rough lines. It emphasizes the materiality of the drawing itself. The industrial feeling of the work is compounded in her technique. Curator: A keen observation. I also wonder if we should consider gender in our understanding. Coen, as a woman artist navigating a male-dominated art world, often explored overlooked subjects, creating spaces of visibility for the marginalized. Editor: That rings true. You see a sense of precarity here too, the constant change in those cities. Construction materials constantly consumed and reworked. It really underlines themes of the social alienation felt at that period. Curator: Exactly. "Skyline" is more than just a cityscape; it's a layered commentary on urban existence, material realities, and social power structures. Editor: I find the way Coen embraced that sense of urban anonymity. A statement to how the machine can work its material. Curator: An important addition! Thank you.