The Gowanus as an Impressionist Painting

Last week, Time Out New York ran a picture of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice next to a photo of the Smith-9th Street Station over the Gowanus. They were making light of a recent comment calling Gowanus the "Venice of Brooklyn." Having logged significant amounts of time in the former and being a constant observer of the latter, we can say with some confidence that lousy water quality is one thing the two share. (Many Venice toilets flush directly into the canals and some Brooklyn toilets do the same when it rains enough. In addition, Venice is to the east of Mestre, an industrial town on the mainland which has added--and continues to add--many industrial pollutants to the mix.)

But, we digress, the point here is to note that the impressionist-like painting above was auctioned on eBay this weekend by artist Walter Mosley. We found it on his blog, and it must have sold, because when we went to check on it, it was no longer there. In any case, here is what the artist said:

This was painted en plein air in summer 2004. It was painted in a boat on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. It shows a bridge (I believe it to be Hwy 280) and buildings of Brooklyn, inlcuding "The Willie". It was no small feat to paint this as the boat was being rocked by fellow painter, Richard Rosenblatt also in the boat. I believe this painting will soon have historic significance as this area of Brooklyn is experiencing drastic changes and development.

For the record, the bridge, of course is Smith-9th. The Gowanus Expressway overpass would have been behind the artist as he worked.