Earl Horter

The Chrysler Building Under Construction
1931

Illustration of an Art Deco skyscraper viewed from a low angle, with surrounding buildings and a clear sky in the background. The skyscraper features geometric designs, a central tower with a spire, and a mix of vertical and horizontal lines. The artwork captures the architectural details and the play of light and shadow on the building's facade.

Earle Horter was close to Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and other Precisionist painters who used crisp lines and flat geometric planes to depict the forms of modern architecture. The Chrysler Building Under Construction combines straightedge drawing and watercolor in-painting to define a composition that accords with the subjects and style of his cohorts. With its passages of repeating patterns in the window grids and near monochromes in the shadows, the image conveys a bold impulse toward geometric abstraction. Horter’s use of light to define the composition and emphasize the rising profile of the Chrysler Building, as viewed from 42nd Street near Third Avenue, captures the intense verticality and ambitious spirit of the skyscraper, then the tallest building in the world.

Not on view

Date
1931

Classification
Drawings

Medium
Pen, brush and ink, transparent and opaque watercolor, and graphite pencil on paper

Dimensions
Sheet: 21 9/16 × 16 1/16in. (54.8 × 40.8 cm) Image: 20 1/2 × 14 11/16in. (52.1 × 37.3 cm)

Accession number
78.17

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Mrs. William A. Marsteller

API
artworks/2722