Rosendale Trestle, Wallkill Valley Railroad (1872 Bridge), Hudson Valley Railroad Drawing Signed Tassone, c. 1970 to 1990
Viridian Eclection
The Artwork
A monochrome drawing of one of the Hudson Valley's great railroad landmarks: a steam train crossing the Rosendale Trestle high above the Rondout Creek valley. The iron latticework of the towers is drawn with architectural precision, every diagonal accounted for, while the creek, the trees and the white houses of the village below are handled more softly in tone. In the foreground two figures in long dark coats have stopped on the path to watch the train go over.
The coaches, the old locomotive and the figures' clothes belong to the 1870s and 1880s, the years just after the bridge opened, and the composition follows the elements of the bridge's first photographs. It is signed TASSONE in block capitals at lower left, and signed again by hand in gold ink on the mat beside the hand-lettered title Rosendale Trestle, Wallkill Valley Railroad.
History & Provenance
The Rosendale Trestle was completed in 1872 to carry the Wallkill Valley Railroad over the Rondout Creek, the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the village road. At about 940 feet long and 150 feet above the water, it was described at its opening as the highest span bridge in the United States. The line carried Rosendale natural cement, the cement of the Brooklyn Bridge and the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Trains crossed it until Conrail closed the line in 1977, and in 2013 it reopened as the centrepiece of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail.
The bridge was photographed from the moment it was finished; a large albumen print of about 1872 by John Reid of Paterson, now in the Canadian Centre for Architecture, shows it with a train, people and the Rondout Creek, the same elements as this drawing. The artist is not yet identified; the hand signature on the mat reads tentatively as Pete or Peter W. Tassone. The drawing carries no date, and the mat and framing place it at about 1970 to 1990. Our research is on the Tassone artist page.
Product Details
| Title | Rosendale Trestle, Wallkill Valley Railroad |
| Artist | Signed Tassone; first name on the mat read tentatively as Pete or Peter W. |
| Era | c. 1970 to 1990 |
| Subject Date | Bridge completed 1872; scene shown as in its first years |
| Medium | Grisaille drawing on paper, graphite and wash |
| Origin | Hudson Valley, New York, the subject location |
| Marks | Signed TASSONE in the image lower left; signed again by hand in gold ink on the mat, with the hand-lettered title |
| Frame | Vintage wood frame with gilt inner trim |
| Condition | Excellent vintage condition with well preserved artwork and matting. Minor wear to the frame consistent with age |
| Dimensions | Available on request |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
Railroad imagery holds a particular place in American visual culture, joining engineering achievement to the romance of travel. This drawing presents the Rosendale Trestle not simply as a bridge but as a wonder of its day, with two passers-by stopped in the road to look up. In a study, a library or a living room it works as artwork and historical record at once, and it will mean the most to anyone with roots in the Hudson Valley or a love of the old railroads.
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