My drawing is a visual representation of Gabriel Furman’s Brooklyn through his eyes.  Based mostly on his descriptions of Brooklyn Heights and its nearby surroundings, I tried my best to draw these places.  With the use of secondary sources, I filled in the questions I had after reading his descriptions to help make the drawing more historically accurate.  I found it very interesting how important Furman’s observations were, as they offer a rare account of an area and time that was seldom documented.  Using his descriptions of Brooklyn’s ever changing and evolving landscape, I wanted to make a timeline showing the changes that took place during his lifetime.  I used pencil, pen, and little bit of paint (for mistakes) as pencils/pens are my most comfortable medium to work in.  I also decided since this was a timeline I should work in a larger format than I’m used to, a 36x16 inch mat board became the chosen format. The drawing starts on the left with the more agricultural beginnings and then going right rapidly transforms into a more developed environment.

 

I chose this subject because I found it fascinating how fast and dramatically the area of Brooklyn Heights changed within Gabriel Furman’s lifetime. In addition, I just wanted to express the many changes that took place in an illustrative style.  Some of my sources were paintings from that period and showed a great firsthand experience of the landscape. Also walking around the Brooklyn Historical Society and its surrounding neighborhood also lent a hand in showing the styles and designs of the area. My research lead me to discover the arts and architecture of the times; as well as the lifestyle and small snippets of information which when combines to help clarify the picture.

 

A lot of the initial design is inspired by the Victorian era art and the Arts and Crafts era of design.  Both heavily use embellishments on everything, and many buildings from Furman’s time also contained many intricate designs in the stone/brick. Both era’s began in the mid-to late 1800s, and still retained the elements of previous design eras. They emphasized floral patterns, textile patterns in general, and texture. The Arts and Crafts movement was more about giving objects a handmade quality to them; this was in stark contrast to the Industrial Revolution that was taking place. So I made a boarder with a floral, in this case a grape vine, design. This is to show Brooklyn’s agricultural aspects in growing grapes.  The pear tree is taken from a description of a walk through an orchard that Furman talked of in his journal.

 

Researching not only the art décor of the times but the architecture as well, I dotted the landscape with Georgian and Federal style farmhouses and show them slowly transform into more clustered living quarters. Then the mid 1820s see the rise of brick and stone buildings, and how common they become, as well as three-story housing. The black clouds coming from the brick houses in the 1830-1840s represent the cholera outbreak as greatly described by Furman. Although chimney smoke isn’t jet black, Furman’s view of Brooklyn was somewhat clouded or distracted by this pandemic, which is why the background fades out of perspective. The foreground in the middle is also a slight montage of the changing styles that take place over the 50 years displayed.  Overall, I thought a timeline was appropriate in showing the growth of the city, particularly from the eyes of one it’s more peculiar and interesting inhabitants. 

 

-Taken from my Bibliography on the piece. 

Process and Drafting GIF coming soon!

 

 

Untitled Entry, November 1823, volume 3, page [3]-71; Gabriel Furman papers, ARC.190, box 1,  folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society. 

 

Untitled Entry, June 1824, volume 3, pages 99-100; Gabriel Furman papers, ARC.190, box 1,  folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society. 

 

Untitled Entry, Saturday, September 29th 1821, volume 2, page 313-315; Gabriel Furman papers,             ARC.190, box 1, folder 1; Brooklyn Historical Society. 

 

Untitled Entry, Thursday, October 4th 1821, volume 2, page 319-320; Gabriel Furman papers, ARC.190, box 1, folder 1; Brooklyn Historical Society. 

 

Weather, August 4th 1854, Miscellanies, page 65; Gabriel Furman papers, ARC.190, box 6, folder 1;             Brooklyn Historical Society. 

 

 

Jackson, Kenneth T.; Manbeck, John B., The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Yale University Press. 1998, 34-35.

 

Leadon, Fran; Willensky, Elliot; White, Norval, AIA Guide to New York City 5th edition.  Oxford University Press, 2010, 599-600.

 

Meggs, Philip B.; Purvis, Alston W., Meggs’ History of Graphic Design 5th edition.  John Wiley  & Sons, Inc. 2012.  

 

Stiles, Henry R., A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including The Old Town and Village of  Brooklyn The town of Bushwick and the Village and City of Williamsburgh: Volume 2

Heritage Books, 2007, 132-145.

 

 

Armbruster, Eugene L., c.a. 1902; V1974.1.1329; Eugene L. Armbruster Photographs and            Scrapbooks, Brooklyn Historical Society

 

Artisit Unknown, “New York Bay and City”, 1825, M 1974.108.1; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Bennet, William J., “New York from Brooklyn Heights”, c.a. 1836. (Print/Color aquatint) The Carnegie Arts of the United States Collection. Retrieved from ARTsor database.

 

c.a. 1920; V1973.5.1438 a,b, Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

c.a. 1900; V1973.5.3150, Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

c.a. 1828, V1986.21.1.2; Non-photographic Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Francis Guy, “Summer View of Brooklyn”, c.a. 1817-1820, M 1974.78; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Francis H. Heinrich, “Brooklyn in 1851,” 1851, M 1974.81.1; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Halliday, S.B., c.a. 1900, V1972.1.869; Early Brooklyn and Long Island Photograph Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Pierrepont, Henry E., 1922; V1973.5.3217 a-c; Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration        Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

St. Ann’s Church, c.a. 1880; V1973.2.183; Photographic Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

 

Unknown Artist, “A street in Brooklyn”, c.1840-1860 (Canvas/oil painting).  #34.21; The Carnegie Arts of the United States Collection. Retrieved from ARTsor database.

 

 

Wikipedia. “Georgian architecture” Last modified June 9th, 2013. Accessed June 28th, 2013.              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_architecture (Web)

 

Wikipedia. “Federal architecture” Last modified June 2nd 2013.  Accessed June 28th, 2013.                       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_architecture (Web)