Queensborough Bridge, 1913

Narrator: Artist Kambui Olujimi responds to Hopper’s 1913 painting of the Queensborough Bridge.

Kambui Olujimi: What I'm most taken by is the way the bridge vanishes, the way the bridge itself is articulated and then breaks up in the distance. The detail or looseness with which he renders the bridge almost looks like it's running away. Most of the renderings that I see from Hopper, architectural and built environments have a sort of fidelity. And I feel like this one is one that is much more lyrical, much more kind of whimsy.

Narrator: Hopper made this painting a few years after his final trip to Paris in 1910, and his loose style here reflects his time there. Meanwhile, his approach to the subject matter might challenge some assumptions about New York.

Kambui Olujimi: With the Queensboro Bridge, there's a hierarchy. Like I'm from Brooklyn, there's a hierarchy of bridges, you know, all New Yorkers kind of know the truth. The Brooklyn Bridge is the king of bridges in this city. To pick the Queensboro Bridge, you know, it's not a major player in the hierarchy. It's almost like he's looking at the person in a corner in a party that's just sitting all by themselves and taking that time to engage.