Church Street El

Sheeler based the composition on Manhatta, the film he made with photographer Paul Strand. The high viewpoint joins Lower Manhattan's buildings with the Church Street elevated railway. He removes small textures to concentrate on forms and shadows. Experience in film and photography passes directly into painting.

A salmon-colored wall dominates the center. Sheeler leaves it almost flat to preserve the clear outline of a large urban volume.

A small red-and-black block sits in shadow. This separate colored area remains distinct among the larger architectural planes.

Parallel railway diagonals rise along the right. Their direction gives depth to the view from high above.

A tall white plane catches the sun. Its boundaries can be compared with the dark sides of neighboring buildings.

A broad black shadow crosses the lower field. It becomes a distinct compositional shape while remaining the effect of the buildings.

Photography provided Sheeler with income from the early 1910s. After Manhatta, he continued bringing photographic observations into painting. His 1927 commission at Ford's River Rouge plant supplied material for another major group of industrial pictures.