Stone and Steel: Paintings & Writings Celebrating the Bridges of New York City (Hardcover)

~ Bascove (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Iron rainbow to the bright water bending: That's how Derek Walcott describes a bridge in his poem of the same name. Walcott's "The Bridge" is one of many literary evocations of bridges in this book honoring the presence, both literal and metaphorical, of New York' famous spans, from the Brooklyn to the Queensboro, from the Hell Gate to the Harlem River bridges. Bascove, an artist whose work can be found in the collections of the Museum of the City of New York and the Musee de Cherbourg - as well as on the jackets of books by Robertson Davies, Jerome Charyn, and T.C. Boyle - brings a passionate geometry to her paintings of the various bridges, evoking the exhilarating, fearsome beauty of these "iron rainbows." -- The Washington Post Book World, May 17, 1998

Bascove...is a wonderfully fluid painter whose lines are reminiscent of the elegant yet muscular paintings of the Works Progress Administration muralists. Here, she has combined an interesting array of poetry and prose - ranging in mood and style from John Dos Passos's "Steamroller," and Gay Talese's "Building a Bridge is Like Combat..." to Joyce Carol Oate's mournful and reflective "Last Exit Before the Bridge" and the wonderful Galway Kinnell poem, "The River That is East" - with her spare yet evocative paintings...Stone and Steel is elegantly and clearly a reflection of an artist's style and personal interests and a beautiful addition to any library. -- Communication Arts, July 1998

Stone and Steel, a special part of the history, heart and beauty of New York. -- 1010 WINS

Product Description

"All bridges, if they are well built, have their own beauty. They recall the passageway that is perhaps the most enduring symbol of life. They speak of the journey across, and they mark the limits within which we must live. At the same time, they are something given to us by others, on which we cross. For we never cross entirely naked and alone, and we always rest on some base of human ingenuitiy provided by others." -Alfred Kazin



Nothing is more sacred or central to the iconography of New York City than its bridges. For countless artists, writers and poets, these enduring structures have provided not only a link from the city to the outside world, but a means by which the great metropolis was introduced. Bridges reflect the spirit of their age; and the bridges of Manhattan reflect the city's pride in itself and its confidence in the future (why else build an edifice like the Brooklyn Bridge?)



This lovely book is a celebration of the city's bridges, their architects and designers, their builders and advocates. Readers will find a dazzling array of prose and poetry, from the classics by Hart Crane and William Carlos Williams, to lesser known, but no less resonant, work.



Bascove's fourteen resplendent paintings form the cornerstone of the book. Their color and form not only show the structures of bones, but also bring the viewer into contact with them. Bascove possesses one great talent: her ability to make the monumental intimate and the intimate monumental. This is not a book of architectural paintings, but a book of art - graced by some of the best writing of the past two centuries.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 93 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine; 1 edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567920810
• ISBN-13: 978-1567920819
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #999,930 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Drama of New York's Bridges in Paintings and Words, January 4, 2001

By	"michaelofstpaul" (St. Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews

I was raised in New York, living there the first 21 years of my life. Being a New Yorker means having its numerous bridges engrained in your mind, in your images of the city. I am someone who loves bridges and own a number of books on the topic. This book includes strong and graceful and beautiful paintings of the bridges. They are often shown at night, looking up at dreamy clouds. During the day, they are part of the beauty of the city or its industry. Interestingly, most of the book consists of accompanying dramatic writings by native New Yorkers or visitors who have loved the city and its bridges. They include Alfred Kazin, John Dos Passos, Joyce Carol Oates, Hart Crane and Le Corbusier. And even Helen Keller! I bought the book in 1998 at the Museum of the City of New York and have an autographed copy from the artist. I thumb through it regularly since then in my home in St. Paul, Minnesota, 33 years since I left New York.

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book for New Yorkers, March 18, 2009

By	David T. Quintavalle (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was reccommended to me by a colleague from Portland Oregon who suggested it as being an excellent collection of poems on bridges in New York with wonderful illustrations.