Carle Hessay 1972 The Great City

Carle Hessay: The Great City

From the wilderness of nature to the man-made urban wilderness this monochromatic painting features a huge viaduct leading into the downtown core. “There is no doubt something both sordid and monstrous in the cancer-like growth around the city, but there is also beauty. In the early years of this century, the "Ash Can" school of American painters abundantly demonstrated that beauty does indeed lie in the eye of the beholder…. In this rendition, the lethargy of night still holds the world in thrall, and it is too early in the new day for much traffic. Dawn is breaking after a night of cold and rimy frost, revealing a world of crystalline delicacy. And we catch the city at that magic hour, just as the curtain rises and the rite is about to begin.” From Leonard A. Woods, Meditations on the Paintings of Carle Hessay (Trabarni, 2005)