Broadway, New York from Warren to Reade Street
Medium
Lithograph with tint stones and watercolor
Dimensions
image: 19 x 32 5/8 in. (48.3 x 82.9 cm) sheet: 21 1/4 x 33 1/2 in. (54 x 85.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
Accession Number
54.90.1044
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant lithograph captures a bustling stretch of Broadway in mid-19th-century New York City, viewed from Warren to Reade Street. Created around 1855, it depicts the lively street scene with horse-drawn carriages, pedestrians, and the elegant commercial buildings that lined one of America’s most famous thoroughfares. The work offers a vivid window into the rapid urbanization of the period, when New York was emerging as a major commercial and cultural center. Printed by Dumcke and Keil with W. Stephenson & Co., the image was produced using lithography enhanced with tint stones and hand-applied watercolor. This technique allowed for rich color and fine detail while making the scene affordable and widely distributable—important in an era before photography became common. Such prints helped shape public perceptions of the growing metropolis both at home and abroad. Part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Edward W. C. Arnold Collection, the lithograph reflects the era’s fascination with city views and the role of printmaking in documenting American progress. It remains a charming record of Broadway’s transformation from a colonial road into the iconic avenue we recognize today.
About the Artist
Dumcke and Keil|W. Stephenson & Co. (American|American) · |1800 – |1900
American, New York|New York, NY