New York from Weehawk

William Guy Wall

ca. 1820–23 · Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper · The American Wing

This watercolor and its pendant (54.90.301) were engraved as a pair by John Hill in 1823, just as Wall and Hill were collaborating on the better-known “Hudson River Portfolio” (1821–1825), a series of sixteen aquatints of picturesque views of the river from near Saratoga Springs to New York City. The two watercolors offer prospects of the city’s once recumbent profile from opposing standpoints in Brooklyn and New Jersey, respectively in the morning and late afternoon. In Wall’s time the view from Weehawken was enjoyed less by New Jerseyans than by New Yorkers, who crossed the river by ferry north of Castle Point (visible in the middle distance at right), strolled amid Hoboken’s Elysian Fields, and, if feeling hearty, ascended the bluffs of Weehawken to admire their grand harbor and promising metropolis.

Artist

William Guy Wall

Date

ca. 1820–23

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954