Soho, New York City
Original oil painting by Matthew Holden Bates.
Soho, New York City — oil on canvas by Matthew Holden Bates.
Soho, New York City, USA.
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About This Painting
Soho, New York City is a large-format portrait cityscape depicting people walking through the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan. The vertical format gives the painting a strong street-level presence, emphasizing the height, movement, architecture, and human rhythm of New York.
In contrast to many of my Florence paintings, this work captures a different kind of urban energy. Soho has its own visual language: cast-iron buildings, storefront reflections, pavement, fashion, motion, and the layered anonymity of people passing one another in the city.
Like many of my cityscape paintings, this work began with direct observation and photography, then developed slowly in the studio through drawing, composition, and layers of oil paint. The original painting has been sold, but prints remain available.