About the Object
This pencil sketch, completed in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York, includes a drawing of a plane tail, a rack, and a ladder. This ladder, in varying states of abstraction, figures prominently in several related works in the Collection, including Factory with Yellow Center Shape (VF2013.01.01).
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, many of which were drawn on the back of War Department letterhead.
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. 130.