Leonard Rosenfeld
Driveway under the tracks, 1957, black crayon on paper, 28 x 38 in, 71.12 x 96.52 cm
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Railroad and Construction  In 1957, Leonard Rosenfeld produced a series of drawings of the elevated train system in New York City, as well as some shipyard and other industrial locations in Brooklyn and Queens. These works were done on-site, with paper and black crayon. Sometimes it was so hot the crayon would melt and turn into a kind of virtual black paint. These dynamic, gritty drawings showed the elevated trains, people, houses, churches and other features of the environment where the trains traversed the city. One very windy day, Rosenfeld was on-site in Brooklyn at a very busy terminal where many systems converged. The paper was blowing every which way. Suddenly, two large feet appeared at the top corners of the paper. Rosenfeld looked up and saw the engineer who had been stationed in the tower at the terminal. The engineer told him to keep drawing and invited him up to the tower for lunch later, sharing the food he had brought with him from home. Rosenfeld gladly joined him and then finished his work for that day. These drawings were shown by the Martha Jackson Gallery on 57th Street in the mid-1960s, the Brooklyn Museum, and then later at many other venues. They are found in numerous collections, in the USA and internationally.

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