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Packing Industry - American Vintage Photograph - Mid 20th Century

Mid 20th Century

U. S. Packing Industry Progress- American Vintage Photograph is an original black and white photograph realized in the U.S in the Mid-20th Century in a series of American life in the...

American Labor Unity- American Vintage Photograph is an original black and white photograph realized in the U.S in the Mid-20th Century in a series of American life in the 20th Centu...

Modern newspaper Plant - American Vintage Photograph is an original black and white photograph realized in the U.S in the mid-20th Century in a series of American life in the 20th Ce...

Modern newspaper Plant - American Vintage Photograph is an original black and white photograph realized in the U.S in the mid-20th Century in a series of American life in the 20th Ce...

ANONYMOUS. (American). Homestead Works of US Steel Munhall, Pennsylvania, Gelatin Silver print. Pouring white-hot steel for the new Carnegie Institute of Te...

Titled and dated in black ink on print margin. Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso. Jack Delano, born Jacob Ovcharov, moved from his native Russian to New York in 192...

Black and white photograph of an Industrial steel mill scene. American, early to mid-20th century. Written on the back is Louis Creveling, California. Professionally matted and frame...

This mural study is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Industry and Commerce, 1936, tempera on panel, 16 ½ x 39 ½ inches, signed verso “John Ballator, Portland Ore.” provenance includes: J.C. Penney Company, represented by Russell Tether Fine Arts Assoc.; presented in a newer wood frame About the Painting Industry and Commerce is a prime example of WPA Era muralism. Like a Mediaeval alter, this mural study is filled with icons, but the images of saints and martyrs are replaced with symbols of America's gospel of prosperity through capitalism. Industry and Commerce has a strong narrative quality with vignettes filling the entire surface. Extraction, logistics, design, power generation, and manufacturing for printing, chemicals, automobiles and metal products are all represented. To eliminate any doubt about the mural's themes, Ballator letters a description into the bottom of the study. Ballator also presents an idealized version of industrial cooperation, as his workers, lab-coated technicians and tie-wearing managers work harmoniously toward a common goal in the tidy and neatly designed environments. Although far from the reality of most industrial spaces, Ballator's study reflects the idealized and morale boosting tone that many mural projects adopted during the Great Depression. About the Artist John R Ballator achieved success as a muralist, lithographer, and teacher during the Great Depression. Born in Oregon, he studied at the Portland Museum Art School, the University of Oregon and at Yale University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Art. In 1936, Ballator was commissioned to paint a mural panel for the new Department of Justice Building in Washington DC, an important project that spanned five years with several dozen artists contributing a total of sixty-eight designs. Ballator completed murals for the St. Johns Post Office and Franklin High School, both in Portland, Oregon. He also contributed to the 1938 murals at Nathan Hale School in New Haven, Connecticut. During the late 1930s, Ballator taught art for several years at Washburn College in Topeka, Kanas, where he completed a mural for the Menninger Arts & Craft Shop before accepting a professorship at Hollins College...