Kansas City, View of the West Bottoms
Series TitleKansas City, Summer 1989
Artist
Wilbur Niewald
(American, 1925 - 2022)
Date1989
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 29 × 36 × 1 1/4 inches (73.66 × 91.44 × 3.18 cm)
Framed: 29 3/4 × 36 3/4 × 1 5/8 inches (75.57 × 93.35 × 4.13 cm)
Framed: 29 3/4 × 36 3/4 × 1 5/8 inches (75.57 × 93.35 × 4.13 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: Nelson Gallery Foundation
Object numberF90-14/4
Signedverso (in ink): "Wilbur Niewald 'Kansas City, View of the West Bottoms' 1989"
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionA view from a grassy hill, overlooking railroad tracks beyond which lie clusters of multi-storied buildings resembling warehouses. Just beyond the immediate foreground, a group of trees rises through the composition to the high horizon line. To the right of these trees a structure resembling a footbridge is suspended over the road below.Gallery LabelWilbur Niewald's paintings of many Kansas City neighborhoods, like this one of the distant West Bottoms, have been characterizes as "full of plain truths about things." His striking perspective enlivens what might otherwise b a rather ordinary urban scene.
At the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers, the West Bottoms was home to the Osage, Kaáⁿze (Kaw) and Missouria tribes. Following their forced removal and encroachment by white settlers, the area became a trading hub and then the center of Kansas City's livestock industry. Today it is home to an eclectic range of galleries, antique stores, artist studios, and more.
Copyright© Wilbur Niewald
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