LOS ANGELES RIVER SERIES #17
Los Angeles River Series #17
Gray Day with Red Buildings
North Main Street Bridge
Oil on Canvas 24”x 30”x1.5”
Los Angeles River Series #17
(2019)
The North Main Street Bridge was built in 1910 at a time when the city of Los Angeles was growing rapidly and a number of new bridge construction projects were taking place. It is historically significant as it is the first open-spandrel three-hinge concrete arch bridge to be built in the western United States, a design that was considered absolutely pioneering at the time.
Los Angeles River Painting 17 depicts this innovation in a symphony of grays and whites. The scene is absent hard-lined shadows and clear blue skies typifying a “June-gloom” day familiar to most Angelinos. Soft diagonal shapes of subtle warm tans and muted pinks form the hardened river’s concrete embankments. The Main Street Bridge stands steadfast and firm: Once an engineering miracle, now it seems small and forgotten. The river below meanders and pools reflecting flows of cool-white and deep black. The Bridge and the River dance a weary waltz: He is the once-great and handsome engineering marvel and she his delicate partner, once lithe and untamed now stiff and restrained. He has been lost to age and changing tastes. She has been lost to his engineering. Their fate, however, is inextricably linked: What will it be?
If you are interested in this painting, you can view more details in the
Store. If you would like to learn more about the City of Los Angeles' River Project, explore the links below.
More on the Los Angeles Revitalization Project
An interactive map that highlights a number of the developments planned and occurring along the Los Angeles River.
Home of the Los Angles River Project, an organization dedicated to restoring the vital ecosystem along the river.
