Third Avenue

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

1921 · Etching and drypoint · Drawings and Prints

Nevinson is best known for his depictions of weary troops and shelled landscapes from World War I—depictions so stark, they redefined "war art." After the war, he made several works of cities he visited, such as Paris, Venice, and New York. He first traveled to New York in 1919 for an exhibition of his art; there he met several American cultural figures (including Edward Hopper and John Sloan) and made sketches of the city, a practice he repeated when he visited the following year for another exhibition. In Third Avenue (also known as Elevated Railway and Under the Elevated), the crisscrossing geometric pattern of the elevated train track and the shadows it casts dominate the composition, creating a nearly abstract design of repetitive triangular and rectangular forms. In contrast, the pedestrians and the row of buildings are rendered nearly as sketches.

Artist

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Date

1921

Medium

Etching and drypoint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Leslie and Johanna Garfield Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and David T Schiff Gifts, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, Dolores Valvidia Hurlburt Bequest, Peco Foundation and Friends of Drawings and Prints Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2019