An early Eyvind Earle painting depicting the construction of New York City from a view under the bridges of Manhattan has been placed on permanent loan to the World Trade Center by the granddaughter of the original owner, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee William Carlos Williams.
“View Under the Bridge” is a monumental 13-by-6-foot oil on canvas that is counted among Earle’s early and rarest works and it has never been viewed by the public. The painting has been in the possession of the Williams family until present and will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the official opening of the new World Trade Center in about three years. Until that time it will hang in the lobby of the engineering department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at 225 Park Avenue South.
The official presentation occurred on February 24. Among those present was Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, who expressed his sincere gratitude for the gift of the painting, noting that the depiction of New York under construction was not unlike what they were endeavoring to accomplish in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. Also in attendance was Daphne Williams Fox, granddaughter of William Carlos Williams; Andrew Bertolino, art conservator who restored the painting, Laszlo Szabo, attorney for the World Trade Center, and Peggy Fox, managing director of New Direction Publishing, which has exclusive rights to William Carlos Williams’ publications.
In 1943, Williams (1883‱963) commissioned Earle (1916′000) to paint “View Under the Bridge” for Williams’s lifetime home in Rutherford, N.J., where it hung above his staircase until the time of his death. At the time of the commission, Earle was an accomplished young artist who had already caught the eye of leading New York City galleries and museums. Earle’s early paintings as a New York artist from this era are rare and virtually incomparable. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“View Under the Bridge” is painted in the artistic style that reflected the art historic movement of the early Twentieth Century, expressed in daring colors, both deep and electrifying. Earle’s signature on the painting appears on the tailgate of a construction worker’s wooden wheeled cart. Williams was known through his writing as a champion of everyday working people, which is dramatically reflected in “View Under the Bridge.”
Third-generation art conservator and appraiser Andrew Bertolino, of Bertolino Arts, Medford, N.J., who restored the painting, describes “View Under the Bridge” as “a poem of dynamism portraying the beating heart of the common people in modern city life that is set against the backdrop of industrial and technological achievements towering into the blue sky, with the smokestacks, empire buildings, bridges and cranes forcing the diagonal line exuding power and energy.”
The restoration of the painting was itself a monumental work of art. According to the Williams family, Earle painted the colossal piece in place on the family staircase with the use of scaffolding. It was secured to the wall and there was a significant amount of damage done in the removal of the painting. It took Bertolino more than a year to meticulously restore the painting to its original state.
Upon completion of the restoration, Williams Fox commissioned Bertolino as her agent to find an appropriate permanent placement for the painting. It became apparent to him that only one place would be suitable to the dignity of the task at hand. In his words, “There is no project nobler in the minds of Americans than the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. Something in all of us went down with those buildings. We look with joyful anticipation to the day of the completion of One World Trade because as Americans we rise.”
Fox, who placed the painting with the World Trade Center, stated, “The resurrection of this building gives renewal to those of us fortunate enough to see it and creates a lasting memorial to those who perished, to my grandfather, and to the legacy of both his and Eyvind Earle’s work. I am grateful to the World Trade Commission and to Andrew Bertolino for their exhaustive efforts in making this honor possible.”
