The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
The Ferry Boat
1930
(American, 1876–1955)
Platemark: 23.2 x 25.8 cm (9 1/8 x 10 3/16 in.); Sheet: 28.6 x 40.5 cm (11 1/4 x 15 15/16 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: Robinson and Pirog 50
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
In the 1920s, over 25 ferry routes connected New York City’s five boroughs; these routes declined with the construction of bridges and tunnels.Description
In the early 1900s, ferry boats connected Staten Island to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mabel Dwight often took the ferry to Staten Island and back, sketchbook in hand, to capture the unexpected interactions provided by public transportation. In this scene, two matrons, perhaps traveling to Manhattan for a day of shopping or errands, sit beside a nun, who finds a moment of quiet solace in a prayer book. A frequent character in prints of the era, nuns signaled Old World European values, often in contrast to the increasingly secular and commercial culture of the American city.- Catalogue of an exhibition of the art of lithography: commemorating the sesquicentennial of its invention, 1798-1948. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, November 11, 1948-January 2, 1949. Mentioned: p. 32 archive.org"Exhibitions Through February 2022." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 4 (Fall 2021): 16. Reproduced: P. 16"Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 46. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 46.
- Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900–1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021).
- {{cite web|title=The Ferry Boat|url=false|author=Mabel Dwight|year=1930|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.479