Church Street El

Lower Manhattan is reduced to stacked planes, hard shadows, and repeating architecture seen from above.

What to notice

Follow the train line and the blocky buildings as they lock together; texture is minimized so shape, rhythm, and light do most of the work.

Discover

Sheeler based the composition on imagery from Manhatta, the avant-garde film he made with Paul Strand. The city becomes a carefully ordered machine of geometry rather than a crowded street scene.