Winter Scene in Brooklyn

This painting presents a view of daily life in Brooklyn, New York. Francis Guy painted the busy intersection of Front, James, and Fulton Streets from the window of his second-floor studio. To capture the architecture and receding space, Guy placed gauze in front of his window and “traced” the scene with chalk, then transferred the sketch onto his canvas.

The people he portrayed were his neighbors. An anonymous African American laborer cuts wood in the foreground, while at left, a butcher named Jacob Patchen strolls along carrying a leg of mutton, and carpenter Benjamin Meeker stands at center, holding a square and measuring pole.