About the Object

This photograph, taken in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York, features the fluorescent lights installed in the factory ceiling. The lights create a sense of rushing perspective, crossing the rafters and skylights above. Compare this perspective with Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant Overhead Lights, (VF2013.01.09), where the lights appear as dashes across the space.

 

Additional Information

In December 1944, Crawford received a commission from Burton Tremaine, president and chairman of the Miller Lighting Company, to commemorate the installation of nine miles of continuous fluorescent lighting in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York. Crawford was given special permission to photograph inside the plant, taking a least a dozen pictures and creating dozens of drawings, resulting in at least 11 related paintings. This photograph relates to the accepted commission Lights in an Aircraft Plant, 1945, now in the National Gallery of Art collection.