Anatomy of a Drypoint Etching

This edition of Tudor City art features a return to Building a Babylon, a drypoint etching by Martin Lewis. Exhibited in his solo show of 1929, where he first made his name.

Herewith, the full image as seen from 1st Avenue and 41st Street. Below, the anatomy lesson.

The Woodstock stares out at No. 25 vacantly. At the time of this etching, there's not a single light on, indicating it's a building in progress. No. 25, by contrast, is alive with lights.

The building in the 41st Street cul-de-sac was apparently some kind of storage hut for the impending coming of No. 5. All of the lights are on here.

Pulled back to show it's a long way down.

Beneath, a labyrinth of shapes of all kinds.

The sole figure in the composition is at the lower left. 

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More about this artwork from our earlier post, here.