Puente de Brooklyn

Date: c. 1953-54

Medium: Linocut

Dimensions (cm.): 31.0 x 41.7

Alternate titles: Nueva York-1880; Nueva York en 1887; Brooklyn

Published edition: Unknown

Contemporary publication: Intertitle in film La rosa blanca, (dir. Emilio Fernández, 1954)

References: Academia de Artes 1834; Exposición de Homenaje 493, 561 (illus.)

Commentary: Méndez used an intricate graphic style for the 1954 film La rosa blanca. The prints for the film reconstruct scenes from the life and travels of the nineteenth-century Cuban revolutionary writer, José Martí (1853-1895), and Méndez employed a graphic style that corresponded to the era in which Martí lived. The prints are among the most detailed that Méndez ever produced, with delicate, fine lines and accurate perspective. Catedral de la Habana (Havana Cathedral), Puente de Brooklyn (Brooklyn Bridge), and Vista de Zaragoza (View of Zaragoza) reveal Méndez’s skill in delineating architectural form and texture as well as his ability to create atmospheric effects. (Deborah Caplow)

Cataloging note: Méndez based the composition on a 19th century steel engraving.

Catalogue record number: 210