In the East Village, 1988, watercolor and charcoal on paper, 74,9 x 55,3 cm

Im East Village, 1988

A man wearing a hat and a heavy coat approaches us on the sidewalk. His head is tilted so far forward that his red-bearded face is not visible under the hat. With one hand thrust deep into his coat pocket, he holds a small flowerpot in the other, a plastic bag hanging carelessly from his wrist. Despite the cold, the man holds the African violet carefully in front of him so as not to crush it. The dark, grid-pattern facades in the background seem cold. The street to the left, iridescent in blue tones, opens up into a deep abyss, and the shop windows at the right edge of the picture appear to be empty. While the urban surroundings emphasize the man’s anonymous appearance, his caring gesture with regard to the plant makes him stand out against the cold environment. The complementary contrasting tones of his red beard and green hat, yellow-brownish coat and purple flowers serve to further enliven the scene.

The painter created a contrast between the anonymous big city buildings and the man’s considerate attitude toward the tiny piece of blooming nature, developing a romantic motif of longing. In her socially critical watercolors, Ruth Baumgarte repeatedly portrayed the growing inhospitable nature of cities and the isolation felt by the humans who inhabit them. 

The artist observed the scene depicted here during her stay in New York and presented it as the downside of the pulsating scene in Lower Manhattan’s trendy East Village.