Leeds Bridge by Joseph Lomoff

Portions of the stone bridge depicted here date to 1760, when a wooden structure over Catskill Creek (in Greene County) collapsed; the rest was completed in 1792 and remains standing today. Lomoff renders virtually no straight lines in his painting, whose natural features all appear to be in gently waving motion—arguably including the bridge itself. Foliage grows on the structure, its stones are the same color as those in the river bed, and its arches subtly echo those of trees and mountains in the distance. Still waters create a reflection whose effect is to create a pair of portals through to some other side.