Postcard Thursday: Time Travel to 1866

Earlier this summer, James took to the streets with a handful of guidebooks written in the 19th century to see if he could reconstruct a 150-year-old walking tour. He walked from Battery Park to Madison Square, examining what was -- and was not -- still visible from the era just after the Civil War.

His write-up of his adventures was published yesterday in Curbed. You can read it at http://ny.curbed.com/2016/7/27/12278588/new-york-city-historic-guidebooks-walking-tour. There's also a handy map with some of the highlights from James's reconstructed tour at http://ny.curbed.com/maps/new-york-city-historic-guidebooks-map

One great aspect of these guidebooks are the advertisements.

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FINAL REMINDER -- TOMORROW!
JULY 29 at 6:30PM || EXPLORING HAMILTON'S NEW YORK

We will be speaking at the New-York Historical Society on Friday, July 29, at 6:30pm. The illustrated talk, which takes you through the New York City Alexander Hamilton would have known, is free with museum admission (which is pay-what-you-wish on Friday nights) but the museum would like you to make a reservation. Click this link for all the details: http://www.nyhistory.org/programs/exploring-hamilton%E2%80%99s-new-york

* * * * Read more about NYC history in   Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

George Bellows at the Metropolitan Museum

George Bellows (American, Columbus, Ohio 1882–1925 New York City). Forty-two Kids, 1907. Oil on canvas. 42 x 60 in. (106.7 x 152.4 cm). Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund

From now until February 18, 2013, you have the opportunity to see a remarkable exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "George Bellows." This retrospective of the artist's short career is filled with wonderful paintings of New York City, where Bellows lived and worked from 1904 to his death in 1925.

Bellows came to New York at the age of 22 to pursue his dream of becoming a painter. He studied at the New York School of Art under Robert Henri and was pushed -- along with classmate Edward Hopper -- to capture New York in its gritty realism.

George Bellows (American, Columbus, Ohio 1882–1925 New York City). Why Don't They Go to the Country for Vacation?, 1913. Transfer drawing, reworked with lithographic crayon, ink, and scraping, 25 x 22 1/2 in. (63.5 x 57.2 cm). Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Fund

Among Bellows favorite subjects were the immigrants of the Lower East Side; one section of the exhibit chronicles the development of his image "The Cliff Dwellers," -- a chaotic Lower East Side street scene -- as a painting, watercolor, and lithograph. Bellows was also drawn to the edges of the island, and the show features many scenes of the East River, Hudson River, Battery Park, and Riverside Park, a locale the artist would return to again and again.

George Bellows (American, Columbus, Ohio 1882–1925 New York City). Blue Snow, The Battery, 1910. Oil on canvas, 34 x 44 in. (86.4 x 111.8 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio: Museum Purchase, Howald Fund

Seeing these images reproduced in two dimensions on a computer screen doesn't do them justice. If you are going to the Met this holiday season, do stop by the Bellows show. It's a compact exhibit and well worth your time.

George Bellows (American, Columbus, Ohio 1882–1925 New York City). Rain on the River, 1908. Oil on canvas, 32 x 38 in. (81.3 x 96.5 cm). Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Jesse Metcalf Fund

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Read more about the arts in New York in 

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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"Where New York Began" at the Transit Museum Annex, Grand Central

If you are in Grand Central any time between now and July 5 and you have a few minutes to spare, it's worth your while to check out the new exhibition at the Transit Museum's gallery. The show, titled "Where New York Began: Archaeology at the South Ferry Terminal," explores some of the 50,000 artifacts unearthed during the building of the new South Ferry subway station.

When an 18th-century portion of the old Battery wall* was unearthed in 2005, it made headlines around the city. Less talked about, however, was the trove of artifacts uncovered during the excavation, including fragments of building materials and lovely tile and ceramics, some of which date back to the Dutch Colonial era. While only a small portion of the finds are on view at Grand Central, the well-laid out exhibition takes viewers through all the different types of finds that archaeologists discovered at the site, including more recent relics, like a soda bottle and remnants of the original subway station.

* Portions of the wall itself are on view in Castle Clinton in Battery Park.

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Read more about Battery Park -- from the Dutch Colonial era to the present --

in Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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Or, to subscribe via email, follow this link.
Also, you can now follow us on Twitter.