Elias M. Grossman — Untitled (Manhattan)

A block looking up: a slab tower, a Gothic spire, two cars at the kerb. Etching and drypoint, c. 1933–43.

The document

An etching with drypoint, dated by the museum to c. 1933–1943. The work carries no title — the parenthesis is ours, not the artist’s. Reproduced from the complete sheet, its warm toned paper and the artist’s pencil signature included.

About the artist

Elias M. Grossman was born in Kobryn — then the Russian Empire, today Belarus — in 1898, and died in New York City in 1947. The city is his subject: wet asphalt, tenement walls, the light under an arch, cut in a line so fine it exists only in print.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on orders over $75.

Elias M. Grossman · Untitled, etching and drypoint on paper · ca. 1933–1943 · Smithsonian American Art Museum · Accession 1974.28.111 · Transfer from the General Services Administration · Public domain (CC0).