Description
The upward thrust of the Brooklyn Bridge’s two Gothic arches and the powerful pull exerted by its network of high-tension cables, depicted so effectively in this taut drawing, embodied Marin’s concept of weights and balances. Formally, the great bridge also offered a framing device for the skyline and challenged the artist’s long-standing interest in linear systems.
Provenance
Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), New York; Stieglitz Estate (Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986), executor); given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1956.
Accession Number
2930
Medium
Graphite on lightweight, smooth, tan wove paper, laid down on ivory wove card (all edges trimmed)
Dimensions
Primary support: 13.6 × 19.3 cm (5 3/8 × 7 5/8 in.); Secondary support: 24.7 × 29.7 cm (9 3/4 × 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
graphite
Credit Line
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
John Marin's Pedestrians on Brooklyn Bridge (1920/29) is a graphite drawing on lightweight tan wove paper. The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, was one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century and a favorite subject for artists. Marin's treatment shows pedestrians walking on the bridge's pedestrian promenade, their figures small against the massive structure of the bridge. The graphite technique is precise and controlled, the lines defining the bridge's cables, towers, and roadway with a clarity that contrasts with the more expressive handling of Marin's watercolors. The tan wove paper provides a warm ground. This drawing dates from the 1920s, when Marin had established his reputation and was working in a variety of media. The Brooklyn Bridge, with its mixture of engineering and poetry, was a subject perfectly suited to Marin's vision of the modern world as a realm of energy, structure, and beauty.
Cultural Impact
The Brooklyn Bridge was one of the most painted and photographed subjects in American art, and Marin's drawings capture the experience of walking across the bridge, feeling its structure and its relationship to the city.
Why It Matters
This graphite drawing of pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge captures the experience of crossing the iconic structure, Marin's precise line defining the bridge's engineering while the pedestrians give scale and human presence.
