Ernest Lawson, a Canadian artist who came to New York at the turn of the 20th century to take classes at the Art Students League, was a beautiful painter of the Harlem River.
In the painting above, you might be able to make out what is now Bronx Community College, but at the time, was the new NYU campus that the university had bought, begun to develop, and was considering moving to. The rotunda at the top of the hill, beyond the Harlem River, is now the Hall of Great Americans – a Beaux-Art – pantheon of sorts with bronze busts of (mostly) white men.
Below, the High Bridge sparkles at night with lights, fading skylight, and reflections on the Harlem River.
For more on Lawson, see the article in Ephemeral New York, here:
Lone Figure, Madison Avenue Bridge and the Harlem River
A 1930 scene from the shore of the Harlem River.