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Magnificent art complements an unvarnished history of the Statue of
Liberty and its relationship to immigration policy in the United
States throughout the years. What began in 1865 in Glatigny,
France, at a dinner party hosted by esteemed university professor
Edouard Rene de Laboulaye and attended by, among others, a
promising young sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, was the
extravagant notion of creating and giving a monumental statue to
America that celebrated the young nation's ideals. Bartholdi, and
later civil engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, caught the spirit of
the project and thus began the epic struggle to create, build,
transport, and pay for the monument. Although The Statue of Liberty
was to be a gift from France, the cost of its creation was meant to
be shared with America. To the Lady's creators and supporters,
America offered liberty and the right to live one's life
unencumbered-that is, without fear and with a rule of law and a
government that derived its power from the consent of the people it
governed. Yet, in America, fundraising for the Lady dragged. Had it
not been for publisher Joseph Pulitzer's flashy fundraising
campaign in his newspaper the World, the entire project likely
would have collapsed. The tale, abundant with lively and
interesting stories about the Statue of Liberty's creators, is also
told in the context of America's immigration policies-past and
present. Explored, too, is the American immigrant experience and
how it viscerally connects to the Lady. Also integral to the tale
is poetry-a sonnet-written by a then-largely unknown Jewish poet,
Emma Lazarus, who moved a nation and gave a deeply rich and fresh
meaning and purpose to the statue. In addition to the prose, Lady
Liberty includes thirty-three elegant, full-page stirring paintings
by celebrated artist Antonio Masi. Lady Liberty, a smart, timely,
entertaining, and nonpartisan jewel of a book, is written for every
American-young and old. Lady Liberty also speaks to the millions
who dream of one day becoming Americans. Dim and Masi offer this
book now because the Statue of Liberty, as a symbol of American
beneficence, has never been more relevant . . . or more in
jeopardy.
Bridges to me are a connection, not just joining two landmasses,
but an emotional state, one that acts as an invisible thread
binding the past and future.
--Antonio Masi
In New York's Golden Age of Bridges, artist Antonio Masi teams up
with writer and New York City historian Joan Marans Dim to offer a
multidimensional exploration of New York City's nine major bridges,
their artistic and cultural underpinnings, and their impact
worldwide.
The tale of New York City's bridges begins in 1883, when the
Brooklyn Bridge rose majestically over the East River, signaling
the start of America's "Golden Age" of bridge building. The
Williamsburg followed in 1903, the Queensboro (renamed the Ed Koch
Queensboro Bridge) and the Manhattan in 1909, the George Washington
in 1931, the Triborough (renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) in
1936, the Bronx-Whitestone in 1939, the Throgs Neck in 1961, and
the Verrazano-Narrows in 1964. Each of these classic bridges has
its own story, and the book's paintings show the majesty and
artistry, while theessays fill in the fascinating details of its
social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental history.
America's great bridges, built almost entirely by immigrant
engineers, architects, and laborers, have come to symbolize not
only labor and ingenuity but also bravery and sacrifice. The
building of each bridge took a human toll. The Brooklyn Bridge's
designer and chief engineer, John A. Roebling, himself died in the
service of bridge
building. But beyond those stories is another narrative--one that
encompasses the dreams and ambitions of a city, and eventually a
nation.
At this moment in Asia and Europe many modern large-scale,
long-span suspension bridges are being built. They are the progeny
of New York City's Golden Age bridges. This book comes along at the
perfect moment to place these great public projects into their
historical and artistic contexts, to inform and delight artists,
engineers, historians, architects, and city planners. In addition
to the historical and artistic perspectives, New York's Golden Age
of Bridges explores the inestimable connections that bridges
foster, and reveals the extraordinary impact of the nine Golden Age
bridges on thecity, the nation, and the world.
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