The Smoky City
Object number86.1.258 a,b
Artist
Thornton Oakley
(American, 1881 - 1953)
Datec. 1930
Mediumcharcoal or graphite, paper, gouache, wood
Credit LineHeinz History Center Collection
DescriptionCharcoal or graphite drawing on paper with a gouache wash. Vertical format image showing a coal barge in the foreground hauling a coal load w/another barge off in the distant right background. From the major barge, smokestacks billow dark and long smokey cloud. The image is executed with a medium which imparts a hazy and smokey quality to the work.Dimensions26.1199 x 15.63 in. (66.3 x 39.7 cm)SignedL.ower right corner: Thornton Oakley
InscriptionsLettering on the Barge stern reads: SMOKY CITY/ of PITTSBURGH/ PA/
MarksSee related pieces: 86.1.257; 86.259, 86.269
Label TextBoats offered Oakley the opportunity to illustrate the power of man and machine – with churning wheels and billowing smoke they demonstrated the energy and motion of the smoky city. These barges also carried coal - the fuel, the energy, that in turn fired the region’s furnaces.
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