This painting was executed from the corridor window outside of the apartment of the poet and art critic David Shapiro, during the winters of 1981–82 and 1982–83. According to the artist, he placed his easel to the right of the window "which accounts for some of the extreme tilting effect on the left of the painting." This panoramic scene "was originally chosen because it was a good spot to work in cold and wet weather, but also provided a vantage point onto a highly diverse group of buildings and structures evocative of many aspects of city life ... The title is intended to be geographically specific, so that all elements of the scene may be easily identifiable." Downes noted that soon after this picture, he stopped painting bird's eye views and considered this work to be "one of the more poignant urban views I've done."
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:IRT Elevated Station at Broadway and 125th Street
Artist:Rackstraw Downes (American (born England) 1939)
Date:1981–83
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:25 × 47 1/2 in. (63.5 × 120.7 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Louis and Bessie Adler Foundation Inc. Gift (Seymour M. Klein, President), 1984
Accession Number:1984.93
Inscription: Signed (lower right): R. D.
the artist, New York (until 1984, sold through Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York to MMA)
New York. Hirschl & Adler Modern. "Rackstraw Downes," February 11–March 10, 1984, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Aspects of the City," July 31–September 30, 1984, no catalogue.
Mexico City. Museo Rufino Tamayo. "Nueva Pintura Narrativa: Coleccion del Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York," November–December 1984, no. 11.
Bronx Museum of the Arts. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 2–March 24, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 17–June 2, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Queens. Jamaica Arts Center. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 15–July 27, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Staten Island Museum. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 8–October 20, 1985, unnum. brochure.
New York. City College of New York. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25–December 13, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Albany Institute of History & Art. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," July 22–September 18, 1988, unnumbered cat.
College Art Gallery, State University College New Paltz. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," October 9–November 25, 1988, unnumbered cat.
Yonkers. Hudson River Museum. "The World is Round: Contemporary Panoramas," December 11, 1988–February 26, 1989, unnumbered cat.
Lisa M. Messinger in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1983–1984. New York, 1984, p. 100, ill. p. 101.
Lisa M. Messinger in William S. Lieberman. Nueva Pintura Narrativa: Coleccion del Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York. Exh. cat., Museo Rufino Tamayo. Mexico City, 1984, pp. 14, 42, ill.
Mark Riebling. "'Aspects of the City' Mixes Variety of Artists and Styles." Columbia Daily Spectator (September 7, 1984), p. 5.
Lowery S. Sims. The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. brochure, Bronx Museum of the Arts. New York, 1985, unpaginated.
Georgia O'Keeffe (American, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 1887–1986 Santa Fe, New Mexico)
1927
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
