Walter Henry Williams
We present today's painting thanks to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where until August 1st (2018) you can visit Imagining Home, the inaugural exhibition for the BMA’s new Patricia and Mark Joseph Education Center; it brings together more than 30 works from across the BMA’s collection to explore the universal theme of home. Enjoy! :)
Above the city streets, a girl dozes on the red railing of a fire escape. Walter Williams contrasts the curves of the girl’s soft pink dress with the hard grid of the ironwork and straight lines of a window that reflects similar fire escapes across the street. A rooftop water tower is silhouetted against the haze of a sulfurous sky, and a skylight punctures the roof below. The fire escape, introduced in mid-19th century New York City, quickly became more than an emergency exit from a burning building. It is used for everything from outdoor dining to sleeping and gardening, opening up the home to the surrounding city like a “porch in the sky.”
Have a read about another beautiful painting from Baltimore Museum of Art: "The Lie" by Félix Vallotton, on DailyArtDaily.com