Statue of liberty, New York c. 1928

Irving S. Underhill made this photograph of the Statue of Liberty in New York. It’s a photomechanical print, which means there’s a lot of room for the image to be reinterpreted through the printing process. The Statue of Liberty herself is rendered in a muted green that feels almost dreamlike, and the pinkish tones in the sky give the whole scene a hazy, nostalgic glow. The water is rendered with a lovely, even texture. This sameness gives the water the quality of a painted backdrop rather than a real, moving body of water. The base of the statue looks almost fortress-like, casting her as a formidable figure, in contrast to the welcoming, protective figure we’re all familiar with. I am reminded of the work of Charles Sheeler in the way that Underhill uses a representational format to render a scene that almost tips into abstraction. It’s like they are both saying, how can we make something new by looking at what already exists?