Futuristic City New York Skyline Mid-Century ca. 1950

Rarely do you come across a work of art that is vastly different than just about anything you see. This work is undeniably brilliant and a sheer pleasure to behold. Alexander Leydenfrost has manufactured a world in which state-of-the-art architecture, heavy industry, transportation, consumer products and infrastructure are merged into a functioning and integrated hybrid.
In the center of the composition, he shows the nation's founders in colonial dress. They are engaged in weighty conversation under a large billowing tree symbolizing growth (perhaps the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge). The founders are depicted without advanced technology and surrounded by sprouting edifices, zooming motorized transports, and by-products of an evolved society. This is a futurist vision from around 1950. It is epic in scope and grandiose in detail. The technology gap between the Founders and the 1950s may be as big as our digital technology of 2024 and the 1950s.
Signed lower left. The artist added a 2-inch horizontal strip at the bottom to give him more pictorial space.
Framed under plexi. Bankers Trust Ad - Illustration House
Alexander Leydenfrost, Hungarian, 1888–1961
Graphite and gouache on board
25.5 - 30.5 inches
US$50,000 Plus shipping