Whitetone Bridge Analysis

For our final, I toured the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New York where I found a piece by American artist Ralston Crawford, which I have chosen to write my paper on. Crawford’s work, Whitestone Bridge, is a 40 1/4 in. x 32 in oil on canvas piece that was created between 1939 and 1940; placing the piece in the last set of art movements we learned about this year. In addition to being classified as a work representative of the modern Precisionist style, a style that we did not focus on this semester, due to the very present linear style, simple color palette, and in complex shapes, I believe this piece falls into the movement known as Surrealism. The Surrealist movement began in the 1920’s and was made up of artist who focused on the subconscious imagination. Whitestone Bridge fits into the Surrealist movement, not only because of when it was made, but because it depicts a realistic looking landscape view and bridge that goes off, never ending, into the sky. During this time period and art movement, pieces that displayed realistic landscapes with something a little strange incorporated were very
Crawford’s work mainly consisted of architectural and industrial aspects made of precise lines and shapes, which some would say caused this piece to be considered part of the Cubism, Crawford’s creativity that makes this piece part of the Surrealist movement. His creativity influenced his piece Whitestone Bridge because it allowed him to achieve a realistic looking bridge while still creating a piece that displays imagine through the us of the never ending bridge and the bright sky. Additionally, Crawford used his creativity to evoke a feeling of forward progress and “the World of Tomorrow.” This feeling was a big part of the American art at the time especially because the opening of the New York World’s