1899
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Brooklyn Bridge is a 1899 oil by Henry Ward Ranger, a American Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows a dark, moody depiction of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a city scene, but it doesn't feel busy or crowded. The artist focused on the bridge's shape and the surrounding water and sky. The painting has a calm, quiet feel to it. I'm not sure what inspired the artist to paint this scene. The bridge is the main subject, but it's not the only thing in the painting. You can also see the water and sky around it, which adds to the calm mood. To learn more about this style, look into the technique of chiaroscuro.
Although best known for his bucolic views of the countryside near his Connecticut home, New York City was Henry Ward Ranger’s primary place of residence, and the artist found inspiration in the urban environment. In Brooklyn Bridge he recorded one of the greatest icons of modernity. Completed in 1883, this impressive structure was still the longest suspension bridge in the world when Ranger painted it sixteen years later. Yet instead of emphasizing its massive scale or modern construction the artist produced a fairly traditional view, integrating the bridge into the landscape. The painting…
Pennsylvania, Allentown Art Museum, Painting Progress, American Art and the Idea of Technology, 1800–1917 (Oct. 11–Dec. 31, 1991), checklist, no cat. no. or ill. Springfield, Ill., Illinois State Museum, Nineteenth Century American Painters, Mar. 5–Apr. 24, 1966; Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, May 19–June 5; Muscatine, Iowa, July 24–Oct. 2; Peoria, Lakeview Center for the Art and Sciences, Nov. 30, 1966–Jan. 8, 1967. Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, Paris 1900: 'The American School' at the Universal Exposition, Sept. 18, 1999–Jan. 16, 2000; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Feb. 11–Apr.…
Judith A. Barter, et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), cat. 87. Georgia Museum of Art, Icon of Modernism: Representing the Brooklyn Bridge, 1883–1950 (exh cat) (University of Georgia, 2016) fig. 1, p. 13 (ill.).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Henry Ward Ranger (January 29, 1858 – November 7, 1916) was an American artist. Born in western New York State, he was a prominent landscape and marine painter, an important Tonalist, and the leader of the Old Lyme Art…
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