The Woolworth Building from City Hall, also known as Towering Newcomers

Emile Antoine Verpilleux

Verpilleaux was trained as a wood-engraver but began to eliminate many of the black blocks instead favoring subtle colors. He began using oil base inks, sometimes combined with litho varnish, which would saturate the paper, often creating a "halo" around the edges of the print, the result of the oil separating from the ink and spreading to the paperas in this case. Using heavy pressure would also create a slight embossing effect. Impressions will vary in color, like monprints.

"The Woolworth Building...", also known as "Towering Newcomer", is one of his best known images. It is a view from City Hall in Manhattan. Finished in 1913 the Woolworth Building was the tallest inhabited building in the world, and would remain so until the opening of the Chrysler Building, in 1929, the year this print was made. It was designed by architect Cass Gilbert.

Verpilleux creates a human scale in the foregound depicting cars and pedestrians with umbrellas. The middleground is occupied by large, institutional structures and, in the background, two skyscrapers, with an emphasis on the newly built, now iconic, Woolworth Building.

The skyscraper is viewed through the rain from City Hall in lower Manhattan, across City Hall Park. Beyond the park is the City Hall Post Office on the left and a corner of the New York County Courthouse on the right.