Sentinels


 Sentinels


These three storey buildings mark the beginning at Union St. of the W 17th St. climb up the hill to its terminus at Rising Sun Lane.  They are no longer near-mirror images, as the building on the east side of the intersection, right side of the painting, has been significantly altered in appearance.  I have painted Sentinels as they, in my imagination, might have appeared in the 1920s.  The current number 10 bus line was then a trolley line. I have taken some liberties with some of the architectural details and have omitted some visual clutter.  My starting reference was a cellphone panned photo taken from the south side of Union St.  Wilmington's Public School 13 faced up 17th St. from this spot in the 1920s, long since replaced by Highlands Elementary School, recently renamed in honor of Joseph E. Johnson, Jr.  The old No. 13 school survives in much modified form as offices of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington's Dialog

 


I believe that my "sentinels" were built and possibly designed by Newton H. Cloud, the builder and original resident of our home of more than half a century.  A photo of one of these buildings is in a portfolio of Cloud's projects in my collection of Newton Cloud ephemera.  My library - the room in which I pained this scene - was once Cloud's business office as shown by the gold lettering visible in its windows in a late 19th century photo of my our house, detail here.



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