Snow in New York

1902

Robert Henri

Painter, American, 1865 - 1929

A snowy street with a horse and carriage is flanked to each side by tall buildings in this vertical painting. The overcast scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. The buildings to each side are painted in tones of coffee and earth brown along the street, and oatmeal brown and slate gray for the buildings farther from us. Two-story houses with steps leading down to the street line the composition to each side, and the taller buildings beyond stretch off the top edge of the canvas. Closest to us and to our right, the horse and carriage move away from us. Painted with a few strokes in black, golden yellow, and crimson red, people walk or stand along both sides of the street. A single lamppost stands about halfway back along the street to our left. The globe dangles from the curved top of the lamppost. The snow is painted in tones of ivory and cream white. In the distance, the sky between the buildings is parchment brown. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Robert Henri Mar 5 1902.”

Media Options

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Robert Henri’s energetic but stark image of New York in the snow deviates from impressionist urban snow scenes of the period in several ways: it represents a common side street rather than a major avenue; there is nothing narrative, anecdotal, or prettified about the image; the straightforward, one-point perspective composition is devoid of trivial details; the exceptionally daring, textured brushwork resembles a preparatory study rather than a finished oil painting; and the somber palette creates a dark, oppressive atmosphere. In his Record Book, Henri described Snow in New York as, “N.Y. down E. on 55th St. from 6 Ave. Brown houses at 5 Ave. storm effect. snow. wagon to right.”

Having returned to New York City in 1900 following an extended stay in Paris, Henri eventually established a studio and living quarters in the Sherwood Building on the corner of West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue. In March 1902 the dealer William Macbeth encouraged him to paint New York cityscapes for inclusion in a solo exhibition scheduled for the following month. Henri hoped to produce a painting for the occasion that would achieve a degree of critical acclaim comparable to that of La Neige (1899, Louvre, Paris), a snowy view of the rue de Sèvres in Paris that had been purchased for the Musée du Luxembourg in 1899. While a buyer was found for Snow in New York, only one other work sold, prompting Henri to turn his attention primarily to portraiture.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 81.3 x 65.5 cm (32 x 25 13/16 in.)
    framed: 105.4 x 89.2 x 10.1 cm (41 1/2 x 35 1/8 x 4 in.)

  • Accession

    1954.4.3

More About this Artwork

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Scholarly Article:  American Paintings, 1900–1945: Snow in New York, 1902

This nearly square painting shows an industrial area with buildings, storage silos, a smokestack, and railroad tracks. A mound of brown dirt or other material is in shadow in the lower left corner of the painting. Next to the mound, railroad tracks extend diagonally from the lower center of the painting into the distance to our right. The tracks end at a white building with staggered gray rooflines to our right in the distance. A tall terracotta-red smokestack rises high beyond the white building, smoke pouring out of its top and blending into the clouds above. Just beyond the mound of dirt, piles of white material, perhaps in unseen bins, line the railroad track to our left and lead back to a row ten interconnected, coral-orange silos. The horizon comes about halfway up the painting, and it is lined with a row of long white and gray warehouses. The artist signed and dated the work with brown paint in the lower right corner: “Sheeler 31.”

Scholarly Series:  American Paintings, 1900–1945

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sold 1902 to A.J. Crawford.[1] (Sale, James P. Silo, New York, 20-21 February 1925, no. 268); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1954 to NGA.
[1] The painting was possibly sold out of the 1902 exibition of Henri's work at Macbeth Gallery in New York. The sale date and reference to Crawford are in the artist's journal, as follows: "Sold to A.J. (?) Crawford (Annex Little Shop) 253 5th Ave.1902. In Mr. Crawford's house in London England 1906." The transcription of the journal entry was provided by Chapellier Galleries, New York, in a letter of 28 June 1968 to NGA curator E. John Bullard III; in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1902

  • Exhibition of Pictures by Robert Henri, Macbeth Gallery, New York, 1902, no. 6.

1937

  • An Exhibition of American Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, The Union League Club, New York, 1937, no. 45, as New York Street in Winter.

  • New York Realists 1900-1914, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1937, no. 26, as New York Street in Winter.

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943-1951, unnumbered catalogue, repro., as New York Street in Winter.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist, as New York Street in Winter.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. Philadelphia, 1943: unpaginated, repro.

1951

  • Walker, John. Paintings from America. Harmondsworth, England, 1951: 36, 43, pl. 43, as New York Street in Winter.

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 47, repro., color repro. as frontispiece, as New York Street in Winter.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 66, repro.

1973

  • Young, Mahonri Sharp. The Eight. New York, 1973: 24, repro.

1980

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 134, repro.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 174, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 167, 199, 201.

1983

  • Brown, Milton W. One Hundred Masterpieces of American Painting from Public Collections in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., 1983: 124-125, color pl.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 572, no. 875, color repro.

1986

  • Chambers, Bruce. “Robert Henri’s Street Scene with Snow (57th Street, N.Y.C.): An Ideal of City ‘in Snow Effect.’” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 39 (Winter 1986): 30-39; 37-38, fig. 7.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 154, repro.

1991

  • Perlman, Bennard B. Robert Henri: His Life and Art. New York, 1991: 55-56.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 199, repro.

1994

  • Gerdts, William H. Impressionist New York. New York, 1994: 35, pl. 22.

1995

  • Zurier, Rebecca, Robert W. Snyder, and Virginia M. Mecklenburg. Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists and Their New York. Exh. cat. National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., 1995: 69-70, fig. 68.

1997

  • Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. St. Louis, 1997: 62, 202, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Robert Henri / Mar 5 1902

Wikidata ID

Q15705359

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