This drawing was done during Gleizes's first stay in New York, and shows his fascination with modernity. Gleizes exaltats the modern world, transforming newspaper headlines and references to Picasso and Braque in advertisements of the big city, displacing the intimacy of still lifes to the great aerial views of towns, typically twentieth century.
In New York, the diagonal planes become facades of skyscrapers fleeing in all directions, creating a dizzying pace of extraordinary vitality. The circles are grouped in the center, for treetops or car wheels, in a clear reference to Robert Delaunay. The exaggerated difference of views bring a sense of motion in panorama, as the displacement of an elevator, a balloon or flying an airplane, and contrasts harmoniously balanced with the austerity of color.
