39th St. 6th Ave. 1930

Curator: Let's turn our attention to Gottlob Briem's "39th St. 6th Ave.," created in 1930 using etching and ink. Editor: The immediate impact is this looming sense of industrial power. The buildings angle upwards, pressing against the sky. It feels almost overwhelming, a cityscape as both awe-inspiring and menacing. Curator: It's fascinating to consider this work through the lens of materiality. The sharp lines of the etching highlight the geometric forms, but also, in the period this was made in, there was the question: what is made by the artist versus the technician? Editor: And visually, the cityscape seems almost constructed of totems – stark geometric volumes, that speak to both ambition and the alienation of modern life. Curator: There's an interesting push and pull between Realism and Art Deco. Briem is rendering a real location, but doing so in a very stylized way. Editor: I agree. I can’t help but notice the scaffolding on one of the buildings. It symbolizes not just the act of building, but the eternal human project to reach for something greater, but also perhaps a monument for capitalist labor. The question lingers if that labor is a gift or a curse. Curator: The etching itself involves manual labor—drawing into the metal, applying the acid, pulling the print—connecting Briem directly to the physical making of the image, which ties into the social realities of labor in New York. And the consumption and distribution of printed material. Editor: Those buildings symbolize permanence and the people symbolize transient moments of modern life. The etching’s contrasts – the lights and darks – seem to play with these thematic dichotomies. It brings together human vulnerability and the monumental nature of the city. Curator: Considering the material and methods of its making definitely adds another dimension to appreciate this stunning urban view. Editor: Precisely, and seeing those looming icons from the past really provides a striking way to contemplate our own progress and future.