New York from Hobuck
Medium
Pen and iron-gall ink on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
10 9/16 x 16 1/2 in. (26.8 x 41.9 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
Accession Number
54.90.152
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *New York from Hobuck (1796), a delicate pen drawing by Scottish-born artist Alexander Robertson, an early panoramic view of Manhattan across the Hudson River from what is likely Hoboken, New Jersey. Created just two decades after the American Revolution, this work offers a rare glimpse into New York's transformation from colonial outpost to bustling port city, showcasing clusters of houses, trees, and the rudimentary skyline that hinted at its future prominence. Robertson's precise ink lines on off-white laid paper evoke the topographical precision of 18th-century American landscape v...