Skip to content

The Madding Crowd

150 Years of American Urban Landscapes

June 17 – August 20, 2021

BERENICE ABBOTT (1898–1991), "El, Second and Third Avenue Lines, Bowery and Division Streets, Manhattan," 1936. Gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.
THOMAS BENECKE (active 1855–56)
LAWRENCE EDWIN BLAZEY (1902–1999), "Euclid Avenue, Cleveland," about 1930. Ink, pencil, wash on paper, 12 1/4 x 16 7/8 in.
RUTH LIGHT BRAUN (1906–2003), "Bargain Counter, New York City," about 1928. Conté crayon on paper, 8 1/2 x 11 in.
RUTH LIGHT BRAUN (1906–2003), "Klein’s Dress Shop, Union Square," about 1928–29. Conté crayon on paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.
RUTH LIGHT BRAUN (1906–2003), "Waiting for the Train, Pennsylvania Station," about 1928. Conté crayon on paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.
RUTH LIGHT BRAUN (1906–2003), "Fifty-Ninth Street, Plaza Fountain," about 1929–29. Conté crayon on paper, 11 x 8 1/2 in.
RUTH LIGHT BRAUN (1906–2003), "Grand Central Terminal," about 1928. Conté crayon on paper, 8 1/2 x 11 in.
FREDERICK BROSEN (b. 1954), "West 74th Street," 2019.Watercolor over graphite on paper, 35 x 23 1/2 in.
FREDERICK BROSEN (b. 1954), "West 10th Street, Coney Island," 2018. Watercolor over graphite on paper, 34 3/4 x 25 in.
COLIN BROWN (b. 1965), "Runes of Sleep," 2013. Carbonized nickel on board, 22 x 40 in.
NICOLINO CALYO (1799–1884), "New York from Brooklyn and Williamsburg," 1838. Gouache on paper, 26 x 39 3/8 in.
NICOLINO CALYO (1799–1884), "New York from Hoboken," about 1835–40. Gouache on paper, 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in
NICOLINO CALYO (1799–1884), "New York and Brooklyn from Williamsburg," about 1835–40. Gouache on paper, 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in.
COLIN CAMPBELL COOPER (1856–1937), "Waldorf Astoria," about 1908. Oil on board, 14 x 10 3/4 in.
"Pair Blue Ground Vases with Swan Handles and with views of High Street," about 1820. Chamberlain’s, Worcester, England Porcelain, painted and gilded, 9 5/16 in. high
"'Old Paris' Porcelain Crater-Form Vase with Two Views of Philadelphia," 1830–32. French Porcelain, partially painted and gilded, 15 9/16 x 11 1/4 in.
THOMAS FRANSIOLI (1906–1997), "The Brooklyn Bridge in 1892," 1965. Oil on canvas, 36 1/2 x 48 1/4 in.
THOMAS FRANSIOLI (1906–1997), "C is for Cat," 1950. Gouache on paper, 15 x 18 3/4 in.
WILLLIAM JAMES GLACKENS (1870–1938), "I Went Down to Coney Island for a Swim," about 1907. Ink, charcoal and gouache on paper, 13 1/2 x 17 in.
CHILDE HASSAM (1859–1935), "A Wet Day on Broadway," 1891. Pastel on paper mounted on linen, 18 x 21 7/8 in.
CHILDE HASSAM (1859–1935), "Fifth Avenue, Noon," 1916. Etching, 9 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.
HILAIRE HILER (1898–1966), "Le 14 Juillet," 1928. Oil on canvas board, 30 x 24 3/4 in.
DIANA HOROWITZ (b. 1958), "Crane Study at Tower 1," 2011. Oil on panel, 10 x 8 in.
DIANA HOROWITZ (b. 1958), "One Crane, Eye Level," 2011. Oil on linen, 11 x 8 in.
DIANA HOROWITZ (b. 1958), "Two Cranes, with Platform," 2011. Oil on panel, 11 x 8 in.
YASUO KUNIYOSHI (1889–1953), "Virginia City, Nevada," 1941. Gouache on gessoed panel, 12 x 8 in.
REGINALD MARSH (1898–1854), "Cabaret," 1938. Tempera and pencil on gessoed panel, 35 3/4 x 23 3/4 in.
REGINALD MARSH (1898–1954), "Metropolitan Opera," 1940. Chinese ink and watercolor on paper, 22 x 15 1/4 in.
ANDY MISTER (b. 1979), "Disobedience," 2019. Carbon pencil, charcoal and acrylic on paper mounted on panel, 36 x 30 in.
JOHN MOORE (b. 1941), "Incomplete Plan," 2005. Oil on canvas, 72 x 59 in.
JANE PETERSON (1876–1965), "Luna Park," about 1918. Charcoal and gouache on paper, 18 x 24 in.
WINOLD REISS (1886–1953), "Untitled," about 1925–30. Mixed media on paper, 19 7/8 x 14 in.
WINOLD REISS (1886–1953), "Untitled." Ink on paper, 14 7/8 x 19 7/8 in.
WINOLD REISS (1886–1953), "Untitled." Ink on paper, 14 7/8 x 19 7/8 in.
PAUL STARRETT SAMPLE (1896–1974), "San Pedro Harbor," 1937. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
MARC TRUJILLO (b. 1966), "John F. Kennedy International Airport," 2015. Oil on panel, 16 x 27 in.
PURVIS YOUNG (1943–2010), "[Procession with Raised Arms]," early 1970s. Oil on heavy paper, 24 x 24 in.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Show entrance, Galleries 2 and 3.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Entrance hallway, with works by (left to right) Frederick Brosen and Diana Horowitz.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Galleries 2 and 3, with works by (left to right) Reginald Marsh, Childe Hassam, and John Moore.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 2, wide view.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 3, with works by (left to right) Reginald Marsh, Marc Trujillo, Purvis Young, William Glackens, Frederick Brosen, and Jane Peterson.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 3, wide view.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 3, with works by (left to right) Ruth Light Braun, Hilaire Hiler, and Winold Reiss.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Galleries 2 and 3, with works by (left to right) Nicolino Calyo, Lawrence Blazey, Winold Reiss, Colin Campbell Cooper, etc.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 3, wide view.
"The Madding Crowd" gallery installation, June 2021. Gallery 3, with works by (left to right) Jane Peterson, John Moore, Nicolino Calyo, and Edward Blazey.

Press Release

Hirschl & Adler is pleased to present its summer exhibition, The Madding Crowd, featuring American fine and decorative arts from the 19th century to the present. Encompassing pieces from over 25 artists, the show includes work by Berenice Abbott, Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Frederick Brosen, Colin Brown, Nicolino Calyo, Colin Campbell Cooper, Thomas Fransioli, William Glackens, Childe Hassam, Hilaire Hiler, Diana Horowitz, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, Andy Mister, John Moore, Jane Peterson, Edmund Quincy, Winold Reiss, Marc Trujillo, and Purvis Young, among others.

The Madding Crowd commemorates the city and its inhabitants, celebrating them through artistic representation. Due to the high density of people in cities, the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic and our responses to it have been intensely felt by its constituents. Quotidian city life continues to remain disrupted, but as the pandemic wanes, we hope to reflect on what cities have been through but still have to offer.

This wide-ranging selection of works represents two visions of urban life. On the one hand, some artists depict the highly organized, rational city as conceptualized by urban planners—a version visible through skyscrapers, bridges, aerials views, and mechanical structures. Consider Lawrence Edwin Blazey’s Euclid Avenue, Cleveland (about 1930), rendered in clean, architectonic lines. The high-vantage-point perspective is taken from a towering skyscraper, looking downward to the busy commercial thoroughfare dotted with vehicles and electric trolleys. Blazey’s Precisionism and daring perspective capture the dynamism and modernity of this booming center of Cleveland’s economy.

On the other hand, other works also delve into an individual’s experience within the metropolis, which is visible through various subjects, including scenes of recreation and entertainment or bustling, energetic crowds. One such crowd is seen in Andy Mister’s Disobedience. With its absence of specific signifiers of an issue or cause, the monochromatic drawing creates a timeless scene, one which beckons the viewer to imagine themselves immersed in the crowd and participating in the protest.

Artists portray the city as a place of vitalism, leisure, and liberation made possible through its organizational structures in these selections. Here too, the artists demonstrate the transitory, adaptable nature of the city and its inhabitants: progressive energy that will prove essential in our collective shift out of pandemic life. Forging connections across numerous cities, eras, and artistic styles, this exhibition offers a wealth of parallels between the contemporary viewer’s experience and the artistic distillation of city life.

 

Back To Top