Posters, poster sizes 15" x 30 5/8" and 10 3/4" x 21 3/4"
Knoedler Publishing's November, 1995, release is LeRoy Neiman's limited edition
serigraph entitled "Brooklyn Bridge".
LeRoy Neiman says: "Enormous gothic arches sitting atop granite towers make
this bridge a modern medieval cathedral in the sky. Our nation was scarcely
a century old when this colossal, romantic shape over the East River, between
the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts, came to be. It is a symbol of the 19th
century. A beauty. A great highway in the sky, spanning the fierce tides of
the East River. The steel wire cables are hard and strong, but give the bridge
the lazy feel of a suspended hammock. It is among the most graceful works of
man, and the great engineering feats of all time."
First known as the Great East River Bridge, the span was completed in 1883
after 14 years of work, the deaths of 20 workmen, and scores of excruciating
and crippling cases of "caisson disease" - the bends. Those afflicted included
the bridge's heroic chief engineer, John A. Roebling, son of the architect,
Washington A. Roebling, who had died years before its completion. To anchor
the bridge, a "caisson" - an upside down box the size of half a city block -
was sunk to the river bottom and then filled with compressed air. Inside, men
working by gaslight, using pick axes and shovels, dug through sewage, mud and
rock deep into the earth. Countless tons of concrete were poured into the holes
thus created to create a solid base on which to place the granite and arches.
Upon its completion and for years thereafter, the bridge was acclaimed as the
wonder of the age.
The featured serigraph is a large, powerful and moving tribute to the bridge,
the men who built it, and the great city it helped to create. The artist has
captured both the imposing, massive presence of the arches and roadway, and
the gentle grace of the supporting cables. Viewed from the Brooklyn side, we
see the familiar landmarks of lower Manhattan and New York Harbor including
Lady Liberty, Wall Street, South Street Seaport, the World Trade Center, and
the Woolworth Building. While dominated by blues in the river and bridge, the
western sky is alight with the yellow, red and orange of the setting sun. The
print is sure to appeal to lovers of New York, Brooklyn, rivers, bridges, sunsets,
and of course, LeRoy Neiman.
