''The Soul of the Soulless City'', originally titled ''New York – an Abstraction'', is a 1920 painting by the English artist Christopher R. W. Nevinson. It depicts a fictional part of the elevated railway in Manhattan, painted in a style influenced by

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

Creation

Nevinson visited New York City for the first time in 1919 and was immediately impressed by the city. He made many sketches of which some were turned into paintings. He painted ''New York – an Abstraction'' after his return to London and before his second visit to New York in October 1920. The second visit however left him embittered, possibly due to the poor reviews of his exhibition at Frederick Keppel & Co.

Provenance

''New York – an Abstraction'' was first exhibited at the Bourgeois Galleries in New York in 1920. When it was exhibited at the Faculty of Arts Exhibition in London in 1925, Nevinson's disillusionment with the city had caused him to rename it ''The Soul of the Soulless City''. The painting was acquired by Tate in 1998 and is on display at Tate Britain. In 2014 Tate presented a virtual version of the painting in the video game Minecraft.

Creation

Provenance

References

Further reading