The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

The High Level Bridge, Cleveland

The High Level Bridge, Cleveland

1926
(American, born Bohemia, 1883–1978)
America, 20th century
color woodcut
Image: 17.9 x 12.9 cm (7 1/16 x 5 1/16 in.); Sheet: 26 x 19.4 cm (10 1/4 x 7 5/8 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1926.308
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In addition to working as a printmaker, Ruzicka produced many book illustrations.

Description

Ruzicka produced this color woodcut, commissioned by the Print Club of Cleveland, from a pencil and crayon sketch. It depicts the “High Level” or Detroit-Superior Bridge, an engineering marvel completed in 1918, having an upper deck for vehicular traffic and a lower deck (now closed) for electric streetcars. The High Level Bridge was the first span across the Cuyahoga River tall enough to allow boats to pass without raising or lowering elements and stopping car traffic. Many artists were attracted by both the bridge’s modern structure and its symbolic meaning as the link between the city’s east and west sides.
  • Robinson, William H., et. al. Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946: Community and Diversity in Early Modern America. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 118
    Engelbrecht, Theresa Moir. "Inter-Collected: The Shared History of the Print Club and Museum Collection." Art in Print, 7, no. 2 (July-August 2017): 30-33. Reproduced; p. 33
  • Burchfield to Schreckengost: Cleveland Art of the Jazz Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 28-July 18, 2004).
    Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 19-July 21, 1996).
    The Precisionist Aesthetic in American Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-April 9, 1989).
    The Print Club of Cleveland, 1919 - 1969: Fifty Years in Review. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 14-March 31, 1970).
    Print Club Publications: Past Fifteen Years. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 9-March 20, 1938).
    Prints of Industrial Subjects. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 1934-January 15, 1935).
  • {{cite web|title=The High Level Bridge, Cleveland|url=false|author=Rudolph Ruzicka|year=1926|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1926.308