This painting, in a recent show by VINCENT GIARRANO, seen at Susan Powell Fine Art, in the pretty town of Madison, Conn., on Long Island Sound, creates (for me anyway) a particularly evocative sense of being in a Northeast city as the weather turns cool and blustery at this time of year. There's an autumn busyness tinctured with sadness. I think of Vernon Duke's wan song "Autumn in New York,'' whose lyrics and melody convey in turns, joyful anticipation and a deepening melancholy.

But maybe Mr. Giarrano got the idea from a scene in the spring.

Love the bridge connecting the buildings -- old city.

-- Robert Whitcomb