View of the Park Fountain & City Hall N.Y.185317 1/2 x 25 1/2 " (44.5 x 64.8 cm)
Frame: 24 x 32 x 1/2 " (61 x 81.3 x 1.3 cm)Chalk over lampblack pigment on marbledust on boardGift of Mr. Leighton G. Roberts1984.20.20An 1853 drawing of City Hall building on a U-shaped section of a garden park-like ground surrounded by trees. a fountain is in the middle of the park with people walking around it. The street is filled with carraiges and horseback riders. The street surrounding the outside of City Hall is filled with carriages and horseack riders. To the right of the street is a row of buildings: one with a high steeple. Along the bottom of the drawing is a view of the park fountains and City Hall1530281175Abigail GardnerDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.RochesterRochesterUnited StatesNew YorkTreasures of Folk Art: Museum of American Folk ArtWorks on PaperRochester(From New York Sampler show, 2010):This scene of Croton Fountain in the park surrounding City Hall in Lower Manhattan is based on a lithograph published in New York in 1851 by James Merritt Ives (1824-1895), before he joined forces with Nathaniel Currier (181-1888). It is drawn in a technique originally known as "Grecian painting" that was introduced in 1835 in B.F. Gandee's The Artist, or Young Ladies' Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawings, & c., and which involved drawing with sooty lampblack pigment on a board prepared with iridescent marbledust. The reflective quality of the fine grains glittering through charcoal was especially suited to sublime landscapes, architectural views, and moonlit scenes that were based on published illustrations of romantic poetry and prose and compendiums of topographical views. The impressive atmospheric effects achieved through this relatively simple technique led to its widespread popularity through the 1860s. Marbledust drawing was taught to young women in schools, learned at home through instruction manuals, and also practiced by professional artists.This scene is based upon a lithograph published in New York in 1851 by James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), before he joined forces with Nathaniel Currier. It was one of several views published in the years following the installation of Croton Fountain in the park of City Hall. The fountain was erected to commemorate the 1842 construction of an aquaduct from the Croton Reservoir to New York City. The artist has simplified some elements of the lithograph and added others, for instance the stalls on the lower left side of the drawing.
Stacy C. Hollander, "View of the Park Fountain & City Hall, N.Y.," exhibition label for White on White (and a little gray). Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2006.This drawing is a copy in charcoal on marbledust paper of a popular James M. Ives print of 1851 by the same name. The lithograph was published at 152 Nassau Street/2 Spruce Street, NYC. The technique was popular during the mid-nineteenth century. A layer of adhesive was app;ied to a supporting board and marbledust was sprinkled over it. When dry, the frawing was completed in charcoal and chalk.Sandpaper drawings revived a neoclassical taste for monochromatic decorative arts that had gained popularity at the turn of the nineteenth century. Although interest in the technique peaked during the 1850s and 1860s, it was introduced as early as 1835 in B.F. Gandee’s Artist, or Young Ladies’ Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawings, &c.; there, because of the resemblance to paintings discovered in ancient Greek villas, it is called “Grecian Painting.” Sandpaper drawing was taught in schools or learned at home from instructions in artists’ manuals. Professional artists such as Silas Wood Jr., an itinerant teacher who coined the term “monochromatic painting,” also practiced the method. Sandpaper drawings actually consisted of charcoal or pastel on a board that had been coated with varnish and then covered with pulverized marble dust sifted through fine muslin. The resulting rough-textured, iridescent surface created a highly effective play of light and shadow, perfect for translating published line engravings into original works of art.
The vast majority of practitioners, whether professional or amateur, based their efforts on published prints on a variety of subjects, though landscapes, seascapes, and city views proved the most popular. This example is based on a lithograph by Nathaniel Currier that was published in New York City in 1851. It is one of several lithographed views that were published in the years following the installation in the park at City Hall of Croton Fountain, erected to commemorate the 1842 construction of an aqueduct from the Croton Dam, in northern Westchester County, New York, to New York City. Abigail Gardner made her drawing in 1853. Little is known about the artist, except she later married Lemuel Roberts, a Methodist minister in Rochester, New York.
Stacy C. Hollander, "View of the Park Fountain & City Hall N.Y.," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 341.Drawing18531853 1984 20 2 (From New York Sampler show, 2010):This scene of Croton Fountain in the park surrounding City Hall in Lower Manhattan is based on a lithograph published in New York in 1851 by James Merritt Ives (1824-1895), before he joined forces with Nathaniel Currier (181-1888). It is drawn in a technique originally known as "Grecian painting" that was introduced in 1835 in B.F. Gandee's The Artist, or Young Ladies' Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawings, & c., and which involved drawing with sooty lampblack pigment on a board prepared with iridescent marbledust. The reflective quality of the fine grains glittering through charcoal was especially suited to sublime landscapes, architectural views, and moonlit scenes that were based on published illustrations of romantic poetry and prose and compendiums of topographical views. The impressive atmospheric effects achieved through this relatively simple technique led to its widespread popularity through the 1860s. Marbledust drawing was taught to young women in schools, learned at home through instruction manuals, and also practiced by professional artists.This scene is based upon a lithograph published in New York in 1851 by James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), before he joined forces with Nathaniel Currier. It was one of several views published in the years following the installation of Croton Fountain in the park of City Hall. The fountain was erected to commemorate the 1842 construction of an aquaduct from the Croton Reservoir to New York City. The artist has simplified some elements of the lithograph and added others, for instance the stalls on the lower left side of the drawing.
Stacy C. Hollander, "View of the Park Fountain & City Hall, N.Y.," exhibition label for White on White (and a little gray). Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2006.This drawing is a copy in charcoal on marbledust paper of a popular James M. Ives print of 1851 by the same name. The lithograph was published at 152 Nassau Street/2 Spruce Street, NYC. The technique was popular during the mid-nineteenth century. A layer of adhesive was app;ied to a supporting board and marbledust was sprinkled over it. When dry, the frawing was completed in charcoal and chalk.Sandpaper drawings revived a neoclassical taste for monochromatic decorative arts that had gained popularity at the turn of the nineteenth century. Although interest in the technique peaked during the 1850s and 1860s, it was introduced as early as 1835 in B.F. Gandee’s Artist, or Young Ladies’ Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawings, &c.; there, because of the resemblance to paintings discovered in ancient Greek villas, it is called “Grecian Painting.” Sandpaper drawing was taught in schools or learned at home from instructions in artists’ manuals. Professional artists such as Silas Wood Jr., an itinerant teacher who coined the term “monochromatic painting,” also practiced the method. Sandpaper drawings actually consisted of charcoal or pastel on a board that had been coated with varnish and then covered with pulverized marble dust sifted through fine muslin. The resulting rough-textured, iridescent surface created a highly effective play of light and shadow, perfect for translating published line engravings into original works of art.
The vast majority of practitioners, whether professional or amateur, based their efforts on published prints on a variety of subjects, though landscapes, seascapes, and city views proved the most popular. This example is based on a lithograph by Nathaniel Currier that was published in New York City in 1851. It is one of several lithographed views that were published in the years following the installation in the park at City Hall of Croton Fountain, erected to commemorate the 1842 construction of an aqueduct from the Croton Dam, in northern Westchester County, New York, to New York City. Abigail Gardner made her drawing in 1853. Little is known about the artist, except she later married Lemuel Roberts, a Methodist minister in Rochester, New York.
Stacy C. Hollander, "View of the Park Fountain & City Hall N.Y.," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 341.Drawing