- Now we come to the symbolic aspect of the Brooklyn Bridge,
and to look at the symbolic aspect,
I will touch upon just three artists that were stimulated
by this bridge, although there are many more.
John Marin was an American modern artist of the early 1900s
who is known for his abstract landscapes and watercolors.
Marin sees this bridge as a dance, and a few years ago,
when David Billington was here with his son,
his son was actually inspired to dance as well,
so we see his son jumping as he's crossing
this elevated walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Another artist that was inspired
by the Brooklyn Bridge is Joseph Stella,
who sees the city through the bridge.
Stella is an Italian-born American painter best known
for his depictions of industrial America,
especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge.
In this painting, The Brooklyn Bridge,
he sees three components of the city in a Dante-esque way:
the subway is Inferno, the streets and deck are Purgatory,
the cables are Paradise,
and the bridge expresses these emotions.
The theme of Stella's painting is seeing the city
through the bridge, seeing the culture through engineering,
and one of his most famous is a set of five paintings
called New York Interpreted.
Finally, we'll look at Hart Crane,
who's not a painter but a poet.
Hart Crane sees the nation through the bridge.
In the 1920s, one of the most famous poets, T.S. Eliot wrote
The Wasteland, which is a very depressing poem,
and Hart Crane, who was a controversial poet,
responded with The Bridge,
which is a more optimistic and lyrical view.
Author Alan Trachtenberg's interpretation of The Bridge
is this, he says, quote, "Brooklyn Bridge lay at the end
of the poet's journey, the pledge of a cognizance
that would explain and redeem history.
To reach the bridge, to attain its understanding,
the poet suffered the travail of hell.
But he emerges unscathed and ascends the span.
The entire action implies a steady optimism
that no matter how bad history may be,
the bridge will reward the struggle richly."
Hart Crane lived for many years in Brooklyn,
and an eerie coincidence is that he actually lived
in the same place that Washington Roebling lived
while he was paralyzed and looked out the window
at the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
100 years later, in 1983, a centennial celebration was held
with fireworks, similar to when it opened,
we had fireworks, 100 years later there were fireworks.
Many people were there to celebrate this landmark bridge
and many people didn't understand the significance
or the history of the bridge, as you now understand it,
but they know it was an important bridge.
It was a Roebling family effort,
John Roebling, Washington Roebling, and Emily Roebling,
that made this bridge a reality, but it was John Roebling's
vision, dream, and perseverance that made it
a technical and a symbolic success.
That concludes an abbreviated study of the Brooklyn Bridge
but I definitely encourage you to read more about this.
This is not just a technical story of a bridge,
but is a story that demonstrates the perseverance
of not only a family, but of a community of builders.
In the next lecture, we stay in New York City
and study other iconic bridges of the area,
bridges that transformed communities,
and also set bridge design trends across the nation.
I hope you'll join us.