Broad Street Theresa Raniolo
I find this particular painting of Broad Street very interesting because of its specific location. Examining Broad Street the other day, I discovered that it runs north to south and then bends toward the East River. Hassam was situated at an elevated location right where Broad Street bends looking north toward Wall Street when he painted this. His location gave him a clear view of not only the street and masses of New Yorkers, but also of the Stock Exchange, the financial capitol of the world, and of Federal Hall, the first capitol of our nation. The direction of the crowd seems to be headed north toward Federal Hall, drawing our eye up the street to the historic site framed by the two rows of skyscrapers. Our eye is also generally drawn to the vanishing point of a painting; this painting’s vanishing point lies behind Federal Hall.
It was no accident that Hassam chose this particular setting to paint. It juxtaposes historical New York with modern New York, New York’s rich past, symbolized by Federal Hall and the wealth of ideals of the founding fathers, with its richer present, symbolized by Wall Street and physical wealth. There is certainly artistry in this painting since Hassam probably exercised artistic license when he painted the crowds, all moving in the same direction and concentrated at the bottom of his composition. The way he uses shadow and light also highlights the two buildings that are his focal points, and gives your eye a path to follow when looking at the painting.
Broad Street was closed for a rally when I took the picture on the left, so I was able to stand in the street before the bend; I was unable to get a picture from a higher point looking down on the street as Hassam painted from, but you can still see Federal Hall and the Stock Exhange on the left, draped in the American flag.
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Cultural Map
"The Original Topography of Manhattan Island from the Battery to 155th Street" From Report on the Social Statistics of Cities, Compiled by George E. Waring, Jr., United States. Census Office, Part I, 1886. (Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas-Austin)
