This lithograph series explores the history of New York City through architectural details and public artworks. The images combine archival photographs with the artist’s own iPhone captures, taken by the artist walking the streets of the city over many years. The historic images were found through research of the archives of New York Public Library, the Library of Congress and other collections.
Delaney has worked for many years with Johannesburg based Master Printer Joe LeGate at LL Editions in Johannesburg, where they collaborated on a similar series exploring the architectural history of that city. Both series were produced using photo-lithograph plates.
The images from New York were brought back to Johannesburg, combined there and printed at LL Editions. The edition size is 15
1 Liberty in Paris and New York
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 56cm x 76cm (22” x 30”)
The main image dates back to the mid 1800s in a studio in Paris where the Statue of Liberty was being built in sections, which were shipped separately to New York City where they were assembled in 1886. The color of Liberty reflects the colors of the $100 bill.
2 Fifth Avenue NYC
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 56cm x 76cm (22” x 30”)
Although most of these doorways are from the Art Deco period, they reflect the grandiosity of the Gilded Age, along this stretch of Fifth Avenue where property developers competed for the attention of the public.
3 Circles of New York City
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 56cm x 76cm (22” x 30”)
Repeats of circular patterns across Manhattan – including the Imagine memorial; clocks above Tiffany and in the foyer of Empire State, and looking up into the roof of Guggenheim.
4 Stonewall, West Village NYC
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 56cm x 76cm (22” x 30”)
The Gay Liberation statue by George Segal (1992) in Christopher Park, against a backdrop of doorways of brownstones and other historic homes in the surrounding West Village.
5 Lower East Side NYC
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 56cm x 76cm (22” x 30”)
The magnificent Manhattan Bridge (1909) from the Lower East Side, against a series of doorways which reflect the working class, immigrant history of the neighborhood.
6 Central Park 1933/2016
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 76cm x 56cm (30” x 22”)
The lower part of the image, reflected in The Pond in south-east Central Park, is from a photograph by Samuel Gottsho taken in 1933; the upper half is the skyline as it presents today.
7 Rockefeller 1933
Lithograph on Rives Paper, edition of 15, 2016, 76cm x 56cm (30” x 22”)
The Art Deco skyscraper at 30 Rockefeller Plaza which forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Centre; this photograph was taken in 1933 before other buildings obscured the view. The brass plaque (bottom right hand corner) is set into the street to show the boundary of the development, and the historic map behind shows the movement of the city from historic lower Manhattan to Midtown, along Fifth Avenue.