"Stoking the Engine", Painting for Coca Cola on "Uses of Coal" for 1949 Campaign

Full of atmosphere, rich color and drama, this mural study by Dunbar Beck was executed in preparation for his lobby painting at the US Post Office in Danvers, Massachusetts. Until it...

A fabulous example of allegorical mural painting, this large piece by Edward Holslag features a central winged figure holding a reflective orb, flanked ...

Although this painting dates to 1951, a few years after the Works Progress Administration (WPA) period ended in the 1940s, this tight composition of two pipe fitters doing their work in a cramped space is very much akin to America's Depression-era murals that celebrated the American worker. The painter was Byron Gere...

A late entry in America's string of public murals painted in the 1930s, 40s and 50s telling the story of various towns and regions, this 1962 Art Deco study b...

Rare Gouache on Paper painting executed by world renowned artist and draftsman Richard Rummell, depicting the interior of the famed J.H. Williams & Co drop forging factory, crazy det...

Industrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social Realism George Pearse Ennis (American, 1884-1936) "Forging a Gun Tube #1...

"Labor in a Diesel Plant" Machine Age American Scene Industrial Mid 20th Century Letterio Calapai (American 1902-1993) ''Labor in A Diesel Plant'' Wood engraving, 1940 17 x 10 1/2...

John Hermansader (American, 1915 - 2005) Signed: J. Hermansader (Lower, Right) Steelworkers, c. 1940s Oil on Canvas 30" x 24" Housed in a 3" Frame Overall Size: 35 1/2" x 29 1/4" Craquelure throughout. In otherwise good condition. Biography: John Hermansader (1915–2005) was an American painter, graphic designer, and jazz fan. He is remembered for his iconic designs of Blue Note record covers. John Bancroft Hermansader was born on November 1, 1915 near Reading, Pennsylvania. In the 1930s, he studied at the Memphis Academy of Art in Tennessee and the New Bauhaus in Chicago, Illinois. In New York City he studied with Robert Motherwell at the New School of Social Research. In 1939, he and his wife Rosemary were founders of the Hot Club of Newark, New Jersey, a significant group of jazz enthusiasts. John became the first president. In 1951, when Blue Note Records began issuing 10 inch records, Hermansader was one of their first designers, along with Paul Bacon and Gil Melle. Looking back at this era, Michael Cuscuna of Mosaic Records said, “ What John Hermansader and Paul Bacon really did was evoke the feeling of the music. They used everything from Bauhaus designs to things that were really otherworldly.” Angelynn Grant adds, “When people think of Blue Note covers they think of Frank Wolff”s photography and Reid Miles design. But John Hermansader laid the groundwork that got them going along that path.” Richard Cook, who wrote Blue Note Records: The Biography states, “Hermansader in particular balanced the twin issues of photography and type in a way that would mirror the concerns of the Blue Note of the years ahead.” “John Hermansader was passionate about oil painting, “beautiful lyrical abstractions, full of color and movement.” He was an abstract expressionist painter who drew inspiration for his work from listening to jazz.” - (Obituary, Pilot, Redding Conn., July 14, 2005, p. 32A) His exhibitions included and the Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sunken Meadow, Long Island, 1951–58, Panoras Gallery 1956...