Third Avenue

Charles L. Goeller, Third Avenue, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.142
Copied Charles L. Goeller, Third Avenue, 1934, oil on canvas, 36 x 30 1⁄8 in. (91.4 x 76.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.142

Artwork Details

Title
Third Avenue
Artist
Date
1934
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
36 x 30 1⁄8 in. (91.4 x 76.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — street — East 19th Street
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — New York City
  • Cityscape — street — 3rd Avenue
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Figure group
  • Architecture Exterior — commercial — skyscraper
  • Architecture Exterior — commercial — store
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — railroad station
Object Number
1964.1.142
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1964.1.142

Artwork Description

Charles Goeller would often have passed the dramatic Manhattan vista looking north from East 19th Street along 3rd Avenue to the soaring Chrysler Building. The artist lived just a few doors east of this corner, yet his rendition of the familiar scene is strangely dreamlike. Like his fellow painters in the precisionist movement, Goeller stressed the clean geometry of the modern city. All elements of his painting direct attention to the rising spire of the Chrysler Building, a vision of an ideal future shaped by American engineering. Such foreground details as trash lying by the curb and scarred red paint where a sign has been removed from a wall seem deliberately introduced to contrast with the flawless edifice in the distance. Trained in engineering and architecture, Goeller crisply rendered the elevated rail tracks and building facades in precisely receding perspective. He neatly situated pedestrians, like the structures around them, to lead the viewer's eye back to where the white and silver tower rises against the blue sky. Goeller perfected the shapes in his painting, even removing the gargoyles from the Chrysler Building itself to avoid breaking its sleek outline.

1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition label

Luce Center Label

Charles Goeller completed several easel paintings while working for the Public Works of Art Project, including this painting of Third Avenue with the Chrysler Building visible in the distance. To enliven the image he included details such as a crumpled newspaper page on the street and a conversation in front of the Laundromat between two New Yorkers, one of whom energetically waves his hands, as if to make a point.

Related Books

1934_500.jpg
1934: A New Deal for Artists
During the Great Depression, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) enlisted artists to capture “the American Scene” in works of art that would embellish public buildings across the country. Although it lasted less than one year, from December 1933 to June 1934, the PWAP provided employment for thousands of artists, giving them an important role in the country’s recovery. Their legacy, captured in more than fifteen thousand artworks, helped “the American Scene” become America seen.