About the Object
This photograph, taken in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York, features airplanes nacelles set against the ceiling and lights of the factory. Crawford created several studies of nacelles including three in the Collection: Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant Nacelles, (VF2013.01.22); Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant Nacelles, (VF2013.01.28); and Nacelle Sections, (VF2014.03.02).
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 Nacelles Under Construction, 1946, in the collection of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.
The Artist;
By descent to the Artist’s son, John C. Crawford, Brooklyn, NY;
Navratil, Emily Schuchardt. “Curtiss-Wright,” in Rick Kinsel, et al., Ralston Crawford: Air + Space + War. London: Merrell, 2021, ill. p. 127.