Accession Number
1992/1.127

Title
Amsterdam

Artist(s)
Sir Muirhead Bone

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1876-1953

Medium & Support
graphite on wove paper

Dimensions
10 11/16 in x 7 1/2 in (27.15 cm x 19.05 cm);11 1/2 in x 8 7/16 in (29.21 cm x 21.43 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Dean G. Hyde, class of '86

Subject matter
Throughout his career, Muirhead Bone frequently depicted urban scenes such as this one, in which the play of light and shadow is dramatized, and humans are dwarfed by the built environment that surrounds them (see also the 1925 print A Spanish Good Friday, 1985/2.15). This drawing features a Gothic church in a nocturnal setting.  A single figure highlights the scale of the building, while a light source from outside of the pictorial space, presumably the moon, illuminates the scene.  It is possible that the work depicts a church in Amsterdam given that the artist has inscribed the drawing with both his signature and the name of the city.  

Physical Description
This drawing depicts part of a large, Gothic-style church with lancet windows and buttresses, seen at night. Around the exterior of the building are two trees, a lamppost, four bollards, and a person seen in silhouette. A light source outside the image illuminates part of the church’s large arched window, and casts long shadows that fall to the left side of the composition. 
Inscribed on the recto, in pencil, in the image, “M. Bone / Amsterdam”

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Amsterdam
Gothic (Medieval)
bollards
cast shadows
churches (buildings)
cityscapes (representations)
lampposts
modern and contemporary art
night
townscapes (representations)
trees
urban environments
window