In paintings we know well and many we
don’t, as well as some enlightening works on paper and writings, the artist
long described as a Realist is recast as the architect of his own personal
fantasy metropolis. He dispenses almost entirely with street life and traffic,
ignores skyscrapers and the Brooklyn Bridge, and inserts imaginary buildings
where it suits him; he peers in at private apartments from elevated trains and
surveys his own neighborhood from rooftops. He turns offices, restaurants and
movie theaters into stages for just one or two actors. He paints windows and
storefronts without glass, as if he could just reach in and touch the people
and things inside.
—Karen Rosenberg in
the NY Times, Nov. 22, 2022