Stone and Steel by Bascove

Nothing is more sacred or central to the iconography of New York City than its bridges. For countless artists, writers and poets, these enduring structures have provided not only a link from the city to the outside world, but a means by which the great metropolis was introduced. Bridges reflect the spirit of their age; and the bridges of Manhattan reflect the city's pride in itself and its confidence in the future (why else build an edifice like the Brooklyn Bridge?). This lovely book is a celebration of the city's bridges, their architects and designers, their builders and their advocates. In it, readers will find a dazzling array of prose and poetry, from the classics by Hart Crane and William Carols Williams, to lesser known, but no less resonant, work.

Bascove's fourteen resplendent paintings form the cornerstone of the book. Their color and form not only show the structures bones, but also bring the viewer into contact with them. Bascove possesses a great talent; her ability to make the monumental intimate and the intimate monumental. This is not a book of architectural paintings, but a book of art - graced by some of the best writing of the past two centuries.

Hardcover, 93 pages.

From the exhibition BASCOVE: The Time We Spend with Words on view March 12 through May 30, 2022 at Norman Rockwell Museum.