Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Gift of The Gimbel Brothers, Inc.
1959.GIMBEL.07

A Puff of Smoke, Pittsburgh

October 1 1947 (Date published)
1946 – 1947 (Date created)
Gouache
Painting
Paintings
68.4 cm W x 54.5 cm H x 3 cm D (Frame)
48 cm W x 34 cm H (Image)
27 in W x 21.5 in H x 1.1811 in D (Frame)
American
Gray street scene in winter with trollies on cobblestone tracks at left, 3 figures in right foreground with billows of steam and smoke rising from trains below.
"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's second city, noted for its "smog", a combination of smoke and fog, is one of the great steel centers of the world. Built on hills, the city has many levels, ranging from the industrial plants on low land by the rivers, to heights occupied by the University of Pittsburgh, or to homes in the Mt. Washington area. Street scenes, such as this, with billows of steam and some rising from trains that pass below, are typical." (D. Grafty, "Pennsylvania as Artists See it: The Gimbel PA Art Collection", 1948)
In Collection
ca. 1959, University Art Gallery Gift of Mr. Steve Osterweis, President of Gimbel Brothers, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.

ca. 1946-1959, Gimbel Brothers, Inc.
Catalog of October 1, 1947 (first publication of the paintings)

D. Grafty, "Pennsylvania as Artists See it: The Gimbel PA Art Collection", 1948

R. Gigler, "Pittsburgh's Man of Steel", Pittsburgh Press Roto, August 12, 1979.

O. Francis, "The Saga of Joe Magarac Steelman", Scribner's Magazine, nov. 1931.

Roy Kahn, "Real Pittsburgh: Just an Average Joe", Pittsburgh Magazine, nov. 1985, 17-18.

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Feb. 25, 1948

John Oliver La Gorce, "Artists Look At Pennsylvania", National Geographic Magazine

Catalogue from March 1959 when the collection was presented at the new University Student Union at Pitt (formerly Schenley Hotel).
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.
Corporate commissions
Western Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Industry
Social