Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Gift of The Gimbel Brothers, Inc.
1959.GIMBEL.40
Birdseye View of Pittsburgh
1947 (Date created)
October 1 1947 (Date published)
October 1 1947 (Date published)
Watercolor, Gouache
Painting
Paintings
40.5 in W
x
32 in H
(Frame)
28.25 in W x 19.25 in H (Image)
28.25 in W x 19.25 in H (Image)
American
View of Pittsburgh from Mount Washington, with city's many bridges spanning factory lined river.
"Symbol of thriving American industrialism, Pittsburgh is a producing and shipping center between East and West. Here the artist sums up the flavor of the city with many bridges spanning a factory-lined river." (D. Grafty, "Pennsylvania as Artists See it: The Gimbel PA Art Collection", 1948).
Adolf Dehn offers the viewer a striking juxtaposition of color palette and content in this view of Pittsburgh. He places the bustling scene of the city's factories as background to a frame of green trees, river, and rugged mountains, providing a unique stage to the natural elements of Pittsburgh. The delicate gradations of gray in the bridges, water, smoke and sky, transmits the viewer into the brisk environment of a thriving industrial town. However, the foreground of dirt roads, homes, and greenery lining a cliff overlooking the city, emphasizes a natural, down to earth beauty, in contrast to the manufactured smoke and commercial buildings of the background. In the late 1940's, Dehn, renowned as an American satirist, was in the process of easing himself away from cartoons and caricatures to delve into more introspective depictions through his landscape paintings. Here, he effectively portrays Pittsburgh's industry as a constant presence underlying and defining the city's identity, at the same time demonstrating the potential for change and renewal inherent in its natural roots.' ("SLAG", Fall 2010)
Adolf Dehn offers the viewer a striking juxtaposition of color palette and content in this view of Pittsburgh. He places the bustling scene of the city's factories as background to a frame of green trees, river, and rugged mountains, providing a unique stage to the natural elements of Pittsburgh. The delicate gradations of gray in the bridges, water, smoke and sky, transmits the viewer into the brisk environment of a thriving industrial town. However, the foreground of dirt roads, homes, and greenery lining a cliff overlooking the city, emphasizes a natural, down to earth beauty, in contrast to the manufactured smoke and commercial buildings of the background. In the late 1940's, Dehn, renowned as an American satirist, was in the process of easing himself away from cartoons and caricatures to delve into more introspective depictions through his landscape paintings. Here, he effectively portrays Pittsburgh's industry as a constant presence underlying and defining the city's identity, at the same time demonstrating the potential for change and renewal inherent in its natural roots.' ("SLAG", Fall 2010)
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.
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).
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
Landscapes
Western Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Industry
Landscapes