New York Nocturne: The City After Dark in Art, Literature, and Photography
By William Sharpe
Conceived in 1871, cast in 1873, erected and dedicated in 1886, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty lifted its torch to arriving European immigrants. By 1920 it had hailed over five million prospective New Yorkers. At 305 feet tall, the statue surpassed Brooklyn Bridge to become the tallest thing on the continent. With the torch-bearing hand so powerfully lit that it soon had to be dimmed so as not to disorient mariners, and with the base illuminated by electric lamps of eight thousand candlepower, the statue’s nocturnal debut on November 1, 1886 was as impressive as its daytime aspect. In October 1892, four hundred years after Columbus had first visited the New World, the rest of the statue was illuminated with four million candlepower, so that “the whole outline of the figure was brought distinctly to view.”
Conceived in 1871, cast in 1873, erected and dedicated in 1886, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty lifted its torch to arriving European immigrants. By 1920 it had hailed over five million prospective New Yorkers. At 305 feet tall, the statue surpassed Brooklyn Bridge to become the tallest thing on the continent. With the torch-bearing hand so powerfully lit that it soon had to be dimmed so as not to disorient mariners, and with the base illuminated by electric lamps of eight thousand candlepower, the statue’s nocturnal debut on November 1, 1886 was as impressive as its daytime aspect. In October 1892, four hundred years after Columbus had first visited the New World, the rest of the statue was illuminated with four million candlepower, so that “the whole outline of the figure was brought distinctly to view.”
William Sharpe is a professor of English at Barnard, specializing in the literature, art, and culture of the modern city, particularly New York. His work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His new book on images of New York City at night, called New York Nocturne: The City After Dark in Art, Literature, and Photography, was published in 2008 by Princeton University Press.