Fire Escape Sitters Way Back When

Fire Escape Sitters
12x9
Oil on canvas
SOLD

This older painting recently popped up and stirred memories of what types of paintings I was working on back in the 1980's. In 1985 I painted this scene of an older tenement building with neighbors hanging out of their windows and fire escapes. This was a favorite subject of mine as it exemplified the New York architecture evident in many neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. Over the years, many of these older buildings have been torn down to be replaced by towering glass and concrete buildings with no outdoor fire escapes, effectively doing away with this way of life. There are still places where the older buildings exist, but as the years pass, more and more of them are disappearing.