The Soul of the Soulless City (‘New York - an Abstraction’)
C. R. W. Nevinson, 1920
Image not available: work still under copyright
Painted in 1920 by the English artist C. R. W. Nevinson, this canvas depicts a fictional stretch of the elevated railway in Manhattan. Nevinson first visited New York in 1919 and was immediately struck by the city, making many sketches that he later turned into paintings. He worked on this picture back in London, drawing on a style shaped by cubism and futurism: fragmented planes, converging lines of force and a sense of motion that runs across the whole surface. The result is less a faithful view of the city than a picture of its mechanical energy.
The work was first called New York – an Abstraction. After a second visit in October 1920, which left the painter embittered, he gave it a new name, The Soul of the Soulless City, when it was shown in London in 1925. The change reflects his move from early admiration to criticism of modern urban life. The painting now belongs to Tate and is displayed at Tate Britain in London.
- Painter
- C. R. W. Nevinson
- Date
- 1920
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 61 × 92 cm
- Museum
- Tate, London