ARTIST: Curt Szekessy
MEDIUM: Etching,
DATE: 1920.
EDITION SIZE: Edition 100. Image size 23 x 19 5/8" (58.4 x 49.7 cm).
DESCRIPTION: Signed and titled in pencil. Artist copyright line lower center "Copyright 1920 by Curt Szekessy New York."<br><br> Chatham Square is an intersection in Chinatown, the confluence of eight streets: Bowery, Doyers Street, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street, and Park Row. Before the elevated subways were removed from Manhattan, Chatham Square also had a double-decker station at the confluence of the Second and Third Avenues elevated trains. This view is looking south towards the Municipal Building. The elevated is shown in the foreground, along with street cars, early automobiles, wagons, and carts. It is one of the truly amazing views of Manhattan. The Municipal Building today is known as the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building and is located at 1 Center Street. It was designed by William M. Kendall working for McKim, Mead & White. It was designed to house the necessary Governmental offices after the consolidation of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island into New York City. Construction began in 1907 and was completed in 1914.<br><br> Little is known about Curt Szekessy’s life. It is known that he exhibited with the Brooklyn Society of Etchers intermittently from 1918-1931 and with the Print Makers Society of California in 1921. The Index of American Print Exhibitions 1882-1940 lists nine prints by this artist but not this etching (Chatham Square). Impressions of this etching can be found in the New-York Historical Society, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library. There is a note that stated he was living in Holland in 1936, so it is possible that he was killed early in WWII. This print was reviewed in The Print Connoisseur, v. 1, 1921, p. 86. .
ADDITIONAL INFO:
CONDITION: Very good condition.
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