A painter drawn to the “Mountains of Manhattan”

“New York From Brooklyn”
"Overshadowed by social realist painters and then the abstract movement early in the 20th century, Colin Campbell Cooper never quite got his due. But his evocative takes on New York’s streetscapes and skyline reveal a fascination with the bigness of the city’s architecture contrasted against the smaller personal stories of millions of anonymous New Yorkers. The bigness you notice first, especially with paintings like the 'Mountains of Manhattan' (top) and the 'Cliffs of Manhattan' (second), which both depict the city as an awesome and mighty wonder along the lines of the Rockies or the Alps. When Cooper contrasts the big and the small, as he does here in 1917’s 'South Ferry,' he gives us a more humanistic view of Gotham. We may not be able to read their faces, but every one of those trolley riders ans sidewalk vendors has a story. ..."
Ephemeral New York