Photo, Alan Hicks From left, Andrew Bertolino, art restorer; Laszlo Szabo, attorney for the World Trade; Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey; Daphne Williams Fox, granddaughter of William Carlos Williams, in front of “View Under the Bridge” by Eyvind Earle.

By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

RUTHERFORD (March 10, 2010, 2:30 p.m.) — A painting that was once displayed in the house of William Carlos Williams, the famed Rutherford poet, will eventually find its way to the new World Trade Center construction in downtown Manhattan.

Eyvind Earle, the nephew of Williams and a prolific American artist in the 20th century, painted “View Under the Bridge,” a gargantuan oil on canvas that depicts a scene from the streets of New York City.

“Its height just kind of takes over,” said Daphne Williams Fox, who loaned the piece to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. “We talked to different museums. We talked to different galleries. But they didn’t have the space or height.”

The painting measures 13 feet in height and 6 feet in width. The size will surely impress passersby when it’s put on permanent display. Currently it hangs in a private location at the Port Authority corporate building at 225 Park Ave. South in New York City.

When it receives its official unveiling, the size will not be the only impressive quality of the painting. Perhaps more revelatory is that this masterpiece from a well-known American artist has never been shown publicly. Outside of the family and friends of the Williams family in Rutherford, “View Under the Bridge” is new to the public eye.

In some ways, it’s found art — even though it was never lost in the first place.

When Fox started thinking about moving the painting (it hung in Williams’ Ridge Road home until 1995), she knew there would need to be extensive restoration work. Enter Andrew Bertolino, a New Jersey-based art restorer and conservationist. “It all came about when the owner, Daphne Fox, asked me to come by and look at the painting that she considered having restored,” Bertolino said. “It was all folded up and we had to unroll it.”

Bertolino was immediately taken by the size of the piece. “It just had such a presence,” he said. “There were creases with painting loss, tears in the piece and (Daphne) was concerned to see whether this could even be brought back.”

The restorer worked for more than one year, cleaning the surface and creating a new support system for the canvas. It was tough, painstakingly slow work. “The linen on the canvas had become very brittle,” said Bertolino, who is based in Medford. “We designed a wood support system … and the painting itself was adhered to that support system.”

For Fox, the piece is a unique intersection of the family members in her ancestry. Williams Carlos Williams, her grandfather, commissioned the painting in 1943 from Earle, her cousin, and it became a staple through the generations and for all visitors to the Ridge Road house.

William Carlos died in 1963, and Daphne’s father left the painting hanging. It stayed there for more than three decades. Following the death of her father, Daphne had the painting put in storage.

Now, its new home will be the World Trade Center, which Daphne believe is a fitting conclusion. “The executive director of the Port Authority fell in love with the piece, and I was thrilled to have it there,” she said. “Everything just fit really, really well.”

Once the construction of the new World Trade Center is complete, “View Under the Bridge” will likely move into the lobby near the entrance of one of the office buildings.

Daphne believes the painting, which depicts a scene of towering real estate and metropolitan regeneration, is appropriate for soon-to-be-revitalized downtown Manhattan. “I couldn’t have thought of a better place for it to be,” Daphne said. “I’m sure my grandfather would absolutely have loved it. … I want people to appreciate it. It never made sense to keep it in a house.”

Contact John at 201-438-8700