Book Review: Denys Wortman's New York: Portrait of the City in the 30s and 40s

Going through the drawings in this book is like time traveling back into the 30s and 40s New York. You get that sense of nostalgia if you've been to New York, or that element of surprise if you have not - just like a tourist.

There are over 200 pencil drawings selected from the 5000 drawn by Denys Wortman, a cartoonist, born in 1887.

Each drawing is a beautiful snapshot of the life back them, captured in time. You can really feel how the New York city was like. You can see the roads jammed with classic Henry Ford cars, beach goers at Coney Island, roses were 2 cents then, workers at their old offices filled with papers and forms, Grand Central Station and how it has not changed, rainy day with running pedestrians on the streets, the ceiling fan on the subway train, Radio City wasn't finished yet, and so many more. There are so many interesting people to see.

The drawings filled with details waiting to be discovered. There are also captions with each but they are hand written and difficult to read (at least to me). The pictures speak for themselves anyway.

This book is a gem, highly recommended, especially to sketchbook lovers.

-

Denys Wortman's New York: Portrait of the City in the 30s and 40s is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy from the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn