Pittsburgh Panorama
Object number2023.41.1
Artist
Olive Harriett Nuhfer
(1901 - 1996)
Datec. 1938
MediumPaper; Watercolor; Graphite
Credit LineGift of Linda Dalrymple Henderson in honor of Genevieve Hale and Donald and Elizabeth Dalrymple
DescriptionPanoramic watercolor painting on rectangular paper, possibly a study for a mural. Painting depicts sweeping landscape of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Viewer's left section depicts a hill with houses on all levels of the hill and a U-shaped road cutting through center that is bordered with power lines; center of hill has a few agricultural fields. Center of painting features a river through the midground with four bridges and a paddleboat pushing three coal barges; bordering the river are industrial complexes; there are trains in the foreground and a hill in the background. Viewer's right section has hilly landscape dotted with houses and the Pittsburgh city skyline in the background. The painting has under-drawing in pencil. Center foreground has pencil-drawn platform with simple cornice and title handwritten in pencil at bottom center. Pencil-drawn border around paper perimeter. Reverse is undecorated.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 12.813 x 48 x 0.031 in. (32.5 x 121.9 x 0.1 cm)SignedArtist signature to the viewer's right of the foreground's central platform "Olive Nuhfer".
Artist initials "O.H.N." on the cluster of houses in the viewer's right foreground on the red-roofed lean-to structure at the viewer's far left.
MarksFront has handwritten text in pencil at bottom center " "PITTSBURGH PANORAMA" ".
Historical Notes“Pittsburgh Panorama” by Olive Nuhfer Donor Linda Dalrymple Henderson’s aunt, Genevieve Hale, was a close friend of Olive Nuhfer when they both lived in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. The painting passed from Genevieve to donor Linda Dalrymple Henderson's parents and then to the donor. “Pittsburgh Panorama” is most likely a study for a mural, possibly it was Nuhfer’s attempt at securing the commission for the Pittsburgh Panorama mural in the downtown Post Office that was awarded to Van Veen. Nuhfer (1901-1996) an oil and watercolor painter and sculptor, was a Pittsburgh native, but earned her bachelors and masters degrees in art at the University of Oklahoma before finishing her postgraduate work at Carnegie Tech. During the 1930s she painted some murals for the TSFA project including a post office in Westerville, Ohio and Andrew Mellon Junior High School. She taught art lessons, was a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Sculpture Society, and an active member of the arts community in Jennerstown. She moved to Penn Hills in the 1940s with her husband Leo and raised her children Tom and Tammy in the area. In 1961, she started the Penns Art Association in Penn Hills by advertising in the local paper for local artists both amateur and professional. In her later years she moved to the Saint Francis Nursing Center in Highland Park but continued to paint, even after losing use of her right hand due to a stroke.
Previous owner
Genevieve Hale
Related institution
Carnegie Mellon University
Related institution
Penns Art Association
Related institution
Pittsburgh Sculpture Society
On View
Not on view
Nat Youngblood
Nat Youngblood
Nat Youngblood
