Brooklyn Bridge

1899

Henry Ward Ranger
American, 1858–1916

Although best known for his bucolic views of the countryside near his Connecticut home, New York City was Henry Ward Ranger’s primary place of residence, and the artist found inspiration in the urban environment. In Brooklyn Bridge he recorded one of the greatest icons of modernity. Completed in 1883, this impressive structure was still the longest suspension bridge in the world when Ranger painted it sixteen years later. Yet instead of emphasizing its massive scale or modern construction the artist produced a fairly traditional view, integrating the bridge into the landscape. The painting displays a rich luminosity through Ranger’s method of layering applications of paint and using transparent glazes.

Status: On View, Gallery 177
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Henry Ward Ranger
Title: Brooklyn Bridge
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1899
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, lower left: "Henry Ranger 99"
Dimensions: 72.4 × 91.8 cm (28 1/2 × 36 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1925.720
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16545/manifest.json

Judith A. Barter, et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), cat. 87.
Georgia Museum of Art, Icon of Modernism: Representing the Brooklyn Bridge, 1883–1950 (exh cat) (University of Georgia, 2016) fig. 1, p. 13 (ill.).

Pennsylvania, Allentown Art Museum, Painting Progress, American Art and the Idea of Technology, 1800–1917 (Oct. 11–Dec. 31, 1991), checklist, no cat. no. or ill.
Springfield, Ill., Illinois State Museum, Nineteenth Century American Painters, Mar. 5–Apr. 24, 1966; Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, May 19–June 5; Muscatine, Iowa, July 24–Oct. 2; Peoria, Lakeview Center for the Art and Sciences, Nov. 30, 1966–Jan. 8, 1967.
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, Paris 1900: ‘The American School’ at the Universal Exposition, Sept. 18, 1999–Jan. 16, 2000; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Feb. 11–Apr. 16, 2000; Columbus Museum of Art, May 18–Aug. 13, 2000; Madison, Wisconsin, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Sept. 16–Dec. 3, 2000.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.