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Main Street Bridge, Rochester
190826 1/4 x 36 in. (66.7 x 91.4 cm)
Colin Campbell Cooper
American (Philadelphia, PA, 1856 - 1937, Santa Barbara, CA)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Gift of Hiram W. Sibley
Accession Number:
1926.20
Location: Not currently on view
Rochester's Main Street crosses the Genesee River on a bridge connecting the east and west sides of the city. Until the 1960s, commercial buildings like the ones in this painting flanked north and south sides of the bridge, effectively hiding the river below. Since 1989, the bridge has been elegantly ornamented by Albert Paley’s steel railings, framing a dramatic view of the rushing Genesee.
In 1911, Colin Campbell Cooper wrote:
"Mrs. Cooper [painter Emma Lampert Cooper] says that the Main Street Bridge picture, whenever it has been shown at art exhibitions, has attracted much attention, because people are surprised that such a foreign looking place can be found in America…People always compare it with the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, which rather proves my assertion that 'any old thing' is good enough when the sun falls on it right."
[Gallery label text, 2007]
In 1911, Colin Campbell Cooper wrote:
"Mrs. Cooper [painter Emma Lampert Cooper] says that the Main Street Bridge picture, whenever it has been shown at art exhibitions, has attracted much attention, because people are surprised that such a foreign looking place can be found in America…People always compare it with the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, which rather proves my assertion that 'any old thing' is good enough when the sun falls on it right."
[Gallery label text, 2007]
Marks
Artist's signature, lower left: Colin Campbell Cooper, 1908
Provenance
Artist; Hiram W. Sibley, Rochester, NY; given to the Gallery in 1926
Keywords
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Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Twenty-Second Annual Exhibition 10/19/1909 - 11/28/1909
- Fifth Annual Exhibition of Works by American Artists Art Association of Indianapolis 12/25/1909 - 1/31/1910
- Fifth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists 9/15/1910 - 11/15/1910
- Twenty-Eighth Annual Exhibition 9/18/1911 - 9/30/1911
- A Rochester Retrospective 8/1/1980 - 9/21/1980
- The Fine Art of Painting Conservation 4/13/1982 - 5/13/1982
- Mayor's Office City Hall 8/3/1983 - 2/14/1988
- Colin Campbell Cooper: An American Impressionist in Context 11/4/2006 - 6/3/2007
- Expanding Horizons: American and Canadian Painting and Photography, 1860-1918 6/18/2009 - 1/17/2010
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995.
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Richard H. Love. Carl W. Peters: American Scene Painter from Rochester to Rockport. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 1999.
- Article Author: Ulp, Clifford McCormick. Article Title: Art and Artists in Rochester. Article Scope: Mention. . Publication Fund Series. Rochester, NY: The Rochester Historical Society Page Number: 38
- Article Author: Robinson, Chas. Mulford. Article Title: Colin Campbell Cooper's Paintings of Rochester. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Edwin A. Rumball, ed. The Common Good of Civic and Social Rochester. Rochester, NY: The Common Good Publishing Co. Volume Number: 5, Issue Number: 1. Issue Date: October 1911. Page Number: 16, Figure Number: Cover
- Article Author: Rosenberg-Naparsteck, Ruth. Article Title: Colin Campbell Cooper : Main Street Bridge. Article Scope: Chapter and reproduction. Marjorie B. Searl, ed. Seeing America: painting and sculpture from the collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2006. Page Number: 152-155
- William H. Gerdts and Deborah Epstein Solon. East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist. New York, NY: Hudson Hills Press, 2006.
- Memorial Art Gallery. A Rochester Retrospective: Painting and Sculpture, 1880-1950. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1980.
- Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Hilliard T. Goldfarb, ed. Expanding Horizons: Painting and Photography of American and Canadian Landscape 1860-1918. Montreal, Canada: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2009.
- Article Title: Cooper Picture of Local Scene Gift to Gallery. Article Scope: Article. Democrat and Chronicle and Rochester Herald. Rochester, NY: Democrat & Chronicle Issue Date: April 18, 1926. Page Number: 11
- The Century. New York, NY: The Century Co., 1913-1930.
- Article Author: Rowland, Jodi. Article Title: Main Street Bridge. Article Scope: Poetry. Community Voices in the Gallery: a Collection of Writings by Members of our Community Inspired by Works of Art at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2009. Page Number: 25
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Marjorie Searl and Lu Harper. The Memorial Art Gallery: 100 Years. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2013.
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
See links to web pages and lesson plans
Seeing America Inservice
Materials from a teacher in-service presentation Spring 2008
Seeing America
Chapter on Colin Campbell Cooper's Main Street Bridge, Rochester, written by Ruth Rosenberg-Naparsteck.
Main Street Bridge over the Genesee River
1890 image of Main Street Bridge, from the Rochester Images Project, direct url = http://photo.libraryweb.org/carlweb/jsp/DoSearch?databaseID=716&count=10&terms=7096&index=z