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Suggestions for the Public Supply of Steam
Edward Alfred Sargent (American, 1842–1914)
about 1870–78
Object Place: New York, United States; Place Depicted: New York, New York, United States
Medium/Technique
Watercolor, heightened with white on paper
Dimensions
Image: 27.6 x 36.2 cm (10 7/8 x 14 1/4 in.)
Sheet: 32.7 x 44.6 cm (12 7/8 x 17 9/16 in.)
Sheet: 32.7 x 44.6 cm (12 7/8 x 17 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Watercolors and Drawings, 1800–1875
Accession Number61.314
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsWatercolors
In a place that seems vaguely like lower Manhattan, it is winter and summer at the same time. Buildings are on fire on one floor while people calmly go about their business on another. Factories hum, bankers are warmed, and sidewalks kept clear of ice—all by the power of steam. The nerve center is in the basement of the building on the right, filled with dozens of boilers. This watercolor seems to be the design for a print that advertised Lewis W. Leeds’s ideas about steam, but we haven’t been able to find out if the print was ever made.
Catalogue Raisonné
Karolik cat. no 638
InscriptionsInscribed lower left in brown wash: E. A. Sargent. Del.; lower left in white gouache: - REFERENCE - / GREY, SEWER - / RED, STEAM- BLUE, FRESH WATER- / GREEN, SALT WATER.; lower center in white gouache: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC SUPPLY OF STEAM/ FOR HEATING, COOKING, EXTINGUISHING FIRES, MELTING SNOW & c. / WITH IMPROVED SUBWAYS FOR PIPES, SEWERS, TELEGRAPH WIRES &c.; lower right in white gouache: LEWIS LEEDS / 110 BROADWAY N.Y.; right margin in graphite: Typesetting / Grinding / do / Folding / Folding / Printing / Printing / Show
ProvenanceMaxim Karolik, Newport; Gift to MFA May 10, 1961