“THE SOUL OF THE SOULLESS CITY” is an abstract painting of New York painted by C.R.W. NEVINSON in 1920. The railroad crosses the city and reaches into the sky along with the buildings. Square-shaped buildings rise from the ground to obscure the sky. The hardness of metal and concrete fills the picture. It is interesting to note that the painting was titled “NEW YORK – AN ABSTRACTION” when it was first exhibited in New York in 1920. But the name was changed to the present one when it was exhibited in London in 1925.
The rapid growth of the city and the railroad that runs through it in this painting represent a fervent love of elements such as speed and technology. The trains and industrialized towns symbolize man’s conquest of nature through technological advancement. This is exactly what futurism is looking for.