Ionic Involute Upwardium

About this series: Clayton Pond was one of the early artists to pioneer the SoHo area of New York City, living in his Greene Street studio from 1969 to 1995. He watched as the area changed from a low rent warehouse district to a dynamic art center. What did not change was the century old architecture of SoHo’s cast iron facades. SoHo was designated a landmark district in 1973. In the Capital Ideas suite, the artist has commemorated the beauty of the cast iron architectural details enhancing them in his unique and colorful way. All of the subject matter for this series was visible from the front windows and fire escape of the artist’s studio on Greene Street. His dry sense of humor is evident in the titles of these elegant prints. Very few of the cast iron columns in the SoHo district are classic Greek–Doric, Ionic or Corinthian. Most are combinations and departures from these styles. As the architects of these buildings took liberties so, too, did the artist in making up his own Latin-sounding descriptive names.