About the Object
In this ink drawing, based on Crawford’s visit to the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant, Crawford focused on plane part and factory fixtures. The composition features a row of wings lined up across the background. The large ladder on the right hand-side is balanced by a small triangular plant fixture to its left.
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, including Aircraft Plant in the Cincinnati Art Museum, for which this drawing is a study.
The Artist;
By descent to the Artist’s son, John C. Crawford, Brooklyn, NY;
Chadds Ford, PA. Brandywine River Museum of Art. Ralston Crawford: Air + Space + War (June 19-September 1, 2021); Dayton, OH. Dayton Art Institute (October 30, 2021-January 23, 2022), ill. p. 148.