Thursday, May 9, 2013

Estes' New York

We're looking all the time at photos of the old New York, searching for traces of the vanished city, but what about in paintings? Richard Estes' photorealist paintings capture blocks of that lost world.

The Woolworths, cafeterias, candy store windows, Times Square cinemas, burger stands, subway cars, telephone booths, billiard halls, luncheonettes, liquor stores...



There's the Jones Diner. And there's the Grand Luncheonette.



What can you find here?

10 comments:

Uncle Waltie said...

It was called "Jones", not Jone's. But the painting is spectacular.

Joe non Papa said...

Would be nice to see a retrospective show. It's been a long while since I've seen his work. (And I loved the Jones Diner. Ate there every week when I worked in the area.)

chummy's mum said...

Thanks so much for this link!

citronyella said...

I would love to see a "Then and Now" presentation of some of these wonderful paintings of New York and how the buildings are currently configured. I have been a great admirer of Richard Estes since I first saw his work in the 70s when I was in college. I always hoped one day to own an original.

ShatteredMonocle said...

Check out this:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U7N6CH5mIhQ/S_wjd1aE7wI/AAAAAAAAF9o/yV5eF_0SMo0/s1600/diner_new_york_city.jpg

Relative to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Empire-Diner_01.jpg

laura said...

where was the candy store?

BrooksNYC said...

Fantastic stuff.

So immediately recognizable are some of those vanished stores and restaurants from the 1970s, it's as if I'd walked past them yesterday. And yet......I haven't thought of them in years! Which got me to wondering....

Were I to go to Zabar's this afternoon and emerge onto the streets of 1971, how long would it take me to realize that time had reversed itself?

James Taylor said...

One of my favorite painters.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic artwork. I am partial to the 60's and 70's subject matter but this guy had it going into the 2000's. Great link. I liked the Gordon's/Bond's Times Square painting the best, but all great.

Anonymous said...

Now if Woody Allen would come back and do a film about NYC that echoes Midnight in Paris... except he's over NYC!

Cause it's "Just another highrise with an exciting retail mix"...