Francis Speight, Manayunk from Cotton Street

Following down a sloped hill is a view of the Manayunk and the Schuylkill River Valley in the distance. A fantastic perspective is utilized here with the diagonal decline of the hill, as well as the expansive sky, both of which serve to push the depth in the piece. Today, this hillside is densely populated with homes. Together with Speight’s work, Manayunk Across the Schuylkill, this serves to illustrate an early view of the neighborhood, simpler than we see it today.

Woodmere has collected numerous works by artists who found their inspiration in Manayunk, an industrial and residential neighborhood on the Schuylkill River northwest of Philadelphia. Claude Joseph Warlow, Antonio P. Martino, and Ron Tarver are among those who have been drawn to Manayunk visual richness: the drama of its steep terrain and its mix of monumental, industrial, and domestic architecture.