Lower Manhattan seen from Montague Terrace, Brooklyn Heights

Anton Schutz's dramatic aquatint etching of New York City at night, as viewed from Brooklyn Heights over the Brooklyn shipyards in the foreground, captures the spectacular urban panorama of lower Manhattan with its city lights reflected on the East River. In his etchings Schutz typically used lines to precisely depict architectural structure and detail, but here he used the tonal medium of aquatint to vary shadows of dark ink to evoke the massing of buildings "floating" between expanses of water and sky. He left tiny areas unprinted, leaving the resulting spots of bright yellow paper to suggest glowing light emanating from lit spires and windows. Among Schutz's best prints, Lower Manhattan Seen from Montague Terrace, Brooklyn Heights is both visual rhapsody and graphic record of a modern metropolis defined by recently constructed skyscrapers.

Many early twentieth century printmakers, such as Howard Cook in his Times Square Sector (TF 1995.29) and John Marin in Woolworth Building, No.2 (TF 1995.16), created factual views and personal impressions of New York City's dense concentration of towering buildings, landmarks, and neighborhoods in sweeping vistas. Schutz's resplendently illuminated skyline view is among the most picturesque visions of this great American city.

Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.

On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.

Paris-New York, aller-retour. Une Modernité américaine en formation, 1875–1940. Oeuvres des collections de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et des Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (Paris-New York, Roundtrip. American Modernism in the Making, 1875–1940. Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002. [exh. cat.]