LESLIE RAGAN (1897-1972) NEW YORK / THE UPPER BAY FROM LOWER MANHATTAN. 1935.
39½x26 inches, 100½x66 inches. Latham Litho. Co., Long Island City.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears, creases and abrasions at edges. Matted and framed.
An intriguing and dramatic bird's-eye view of Battery Park, with New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and New Jersey visible in the background. The view is, in fact, based on a photograph taken by Percy Loomis Sperr from the Observation Deck of the Cities Service Building, 70 Pine Street, in Manhattan's financial district. The building, also referred to as 60 Wall Tower, was constructed between 1930 and 1932. "[Ragan's] work exemplified the American taste for realistic depiction while highlighting the natural environment for dramatic effect . . . Ragan's sense of composition and refined wash technique made his best images burst with reflected light. . . [his] cityscapes were particularly noteworthy for their dramatic perspective and powerful massing of Deco-styled skyscrapers. Appropriately, his New York City images best communicated the sense of dynamic rhythm and energy emblematic of the skyscraper age" (Zega, p. 95ff). A 1941 photograph by Andreas Feininger was also shot from virtually this exact vantage point. Zega 127, Metzl p. 157.