Central Park South

Chuzo Tamotzu, Central Park South, ca. 1935-1937, lithograph on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Evander Childs High School, Bronx, New York through the General Services Administration, 1975.83.90
Copied Chuzo Tamotzu, Central Park South, ca. 1935-1937, lithograph on paper mounted on paperboard, image: 15 x 10 1⁄4 in. (38.0 x 26.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Evander Childs High School, Bronx, New York through the General Services Administration, 1975.83.90

Artwork Details

Title
Central Park South
Artist
Date
ca. 1935-1937
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 15 x 10 1⁄4 in. (38.0 x 26.1 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the Evander Childs High School, Bronx, New York through the General Services Administration
Mediums Description
lithograph on paper mounted on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Cityscape — river
  • Architecture — commercial — skyscraper
  • Landscape — park — Central Park
  • New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — New York City
Object Number
1975.83.90

Artwork Description

In 1920, Chuzo Tamotzu moved to the United States from Japan following a six-year art study trip throughout Asia and Europe. He settled in New York and became active in its contemporary art scene, exhibiting at the Whitney Museum and other venues. Like many artists during the Great Depression, Tamotzu found work with the Federal Art Project division of the Works Progress Administration, creating murals or prints like this lithograph depicting Central Park. Here the seamless blend of landscape motifs suggests a harmonious relationship between East and West: the park's running stream and willow-like tree convey the tranquility of a Japanese gardens, while the distant skyscrapers are quintessential U.S. urban topography. Tamotzu's employment with the FAP was short-lived; as a noncitizen, he was deemed ineligible for this work and dismissed in 1938. He nonetheless embraced his new home, later volunteering for military service as a combat artist during World War II and eventually gaining American citizenship in 1958.