Skip to main content
Vilcek Foundation
  • About
    • About

      The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences.

    • Our Mission
    • Our Founders
    • Our Team
    • Press Center
    • Contact
  • Prizes
    • Prizes

      The Vilcek Foundation Prizes celebrate extraordinary achievements in the arts and sciences.

    • About the Prizes
    • Prize Recipients
    • Vilcek Prizes

      Awards immigrants with a legacy of major accomplishments.

    • Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise

      Recognizes young immigrant professionals for outstanding achievements.

    • Vilcek Prize for Excellence

      Celebrating intellectual and cultural leaders in the United States.

    • Marica Vilcek Prize in Art History

      Honors art historians, curators, and fine arts professionals.

  • Art
  • Grants
    • Grants

      Grants awarded to 501(c)(3) cultural, educational, and philanthropic organizations in the United States.

    • Grants

      Learn more and apply for a grant.

    • Grants History

      Explore a list of past Vilcek Foundation grantees.

  • Events
  • News
Sign Up Search
Home > Art > Brooklyn Bridge Abstraction

Brooklyn Bridge Abstraction

Artist

Joseph Stella

Date

c. 1918-19

Medium

Watercolor and gouache on paper

Object Type

Work on Paper

Dimensions

H- 9 3/4 x W- 7 in. (24.8 x 17.8 cm)

Artist's Country of Birth

Italy

Collecting Area

American Modernism

Credit Line

The Vilcek Foundation

Accession Number

VF2016.03.16

Copyright

© The Vilcek Foundation

Tags
architecture Bridge New York
Share this page
Share this page on X Share this page on Facebook Share this page on LinkedIn

About the Object

In this watercolor, Stella presents a view of the Brooklyn Bridge, its iconic towers cropped out of the composition. Rows of cables draw our eye to the blue sky in the background, presumably between the towers.

 

Additional Information

Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was a frequent subject of Stella’s in the early 20th century including Brooklyn Bridge, 1919–20, Yale University Art Gallery; The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted, 1920–22, in the Newark Museum; and The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme, 1939, in the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The Artist;
[Rabin and Kruger, Newark, NJ];
Ellenberger Family Collection, Florida;
By descent in the family, New York;
[Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM];
Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, New York, NY, 2006-2016;

Tulsa, OK. Philbrook Museum of Art.  From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection (February 8-May 3, 2015); Phoenix, AZ. Phoenix Art Museum (June 5-September 6, 2015); Santa Fe, NM. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (September 25, 2015-January 10, 2016).

Corpus Christi, TX. The Art Museum of South Texas. Masterpieces of American Modernism from the Vilcek Collection of American Art. September 13, 2018-January 6, 2019.

Atlanta, GA. High Museum of Art. Joseph Stella: Visionary Nature. February 24-May 21, 2023.

Agee, William C. and Lewis Kachur. Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection. London: Merrell, 2013, pp. 78-79, 222, 235, 268, ill. p. 79.

Pochoda, Elizabeth. “Freedom and the abstract truth: Jan and Marica Vilcek’s collection of American modernist art,” The Magazine Antiques (May/June 2013), ill. p. 103, fig. 13.

Tags
architecture Bridge New York
Share this page
Share this page on X Share this page on Facebook Share this page on LinkedIn

Related Objects

Mezcala Temple

200 BCE–500 CE Unknown Artist
Sculpture of a four column temple with a reclining figure on the top and a staircase carved into the base.

Perth Amboy West (Tottenville)

1911, 1916-17 Oscar Bluemner
A cubist seascape featuring the view across a waterway, with trees and buildings on the edges of the composition.

Construction #8

1958 Ralston Crawford
Geometric shapes of grey, teal, blue and black with diagonal dashes that outline a large grey shape resembling a building.

Construction #7

c. 1958 Ralston Crawford
An array of perpendicular geometric blocks of light grey, dark grey, and beige with intermittent blocks of blue and orange.

Complex City

1956 Howard Cook
A cubist city with an earthy palette, clustered together like mountains with perpendicular lines resembling doorways and windows.

Rockefeller Center

1939 Ralston Crawford
Black ink on white gesso image of construction cranes and cables.

Study Detail for St. Petersburg to Tampa

1939 Ralston Crawford
A beige triangle with verticle white lines, illustrating a bridge rushing off into the distance, is centered inside a roughly painted blue circle.

Red Night, Thoughts

1929 Oscar Bluemner
A narrow path leads into a red structure surrounded by tall, jagged rocks and small green shrubs.

View from Brooklyn

1927 George Ault
Snowy landscape in front of a wide brick building with rows of black arched windows, with the New York skyline in silhouette against a cloudy sky.

New York Night, No. 2

1921 George Ault
City street scene at night featuring tall buildings and a foggy street dimly lit by streetlights.

You may also be interested in

June 21, 2023

Architect James Leng designs birdhouse for Vilcek Foundation Rooftop

The Vilcek Foundation rooftop is now the site of a new birdhouse designed by prizewinning architect James Leng.
The birdhouse fully installed.
May 4, 2021

Vilcek Foundation receives 2021 AIA Interior Architecture Award

The Vilcek Foundation headquarters, designed by ARO, are honored for outstanding interior architecture and design.
The first floor gallery space within the Vilcek Foundation NYC headquarters.

Bernardo Mosqueira

Bernardo Mosqueira receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Curatorial Work for his commitment to building institutions, frameworks, and platforms for emerging and radical artists, especially those from the Global South, Latin America, and diasporic communities.
A portrait of Bernardo Mosquiera.

Join our mailing list

Sign Up
Vilcek Foundation
21 East 70th Street
New York, New York 10021

Phone: 212.472.2500

Email: info@vilcek.org

  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Our Founders
    • Our Team
    • Press Center
    • Contact
  • Prizes
    • Prize Recipients
    • Vilcek Prizes
    • Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise
    • Vilcek Prize for Excellence
    • Marica Vilcek Prize in Art History
  • Art
  • Grants
    • Grants History
  • Events
  • News
  • Careers
Connect with us
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on Facebook
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on Instagram
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on X
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on LinkedIn
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on Youtube
  • Connect with the Vilcek Foundation on Vimeo
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
© 2025   Vilcek Foundation
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok