Gateway to the West
This sketch is a studio piece commissioned for a private collection and is drawn a bit larger than my usual on-location sketchbook pages. On the day in May when I completed it however the Mississippi River was lapping at the steps at the base of the Gateway Arch as shown. On this Father’s Day the water has receded somewhat but still covers the street that remains impassable.
The arch grounds are a U.S. national park and the site of the Historic Old Courthouse. A park ranger recently described to me the two structures as “metaphysical dreams” of their respective eras. The neoclassic courthouse is an expression of Victorian aesthetic aspirations and the stainless steel knife-edged Arch is as much modern sculpture as it is a functioning building housing an underground museum of Westward expansion.
That sky is AWESOME! Great work, as usual, Michael. Woo hoo!