Ride with a Visionary

Inventor's Day, in honor of Thomas Alva Edison—born this day in 1847—celebrates the ingenuity of the inventive spirit. Take a ride with visionary Alexander Maldonado, who shares his concept for future transcontinental travel in San Francisco to New York in One Hour.

Alexander Maldonado came to the United States with his family at age ten, following the outbreak of the revolution in Mexico in 1910. Settling in San Francisco, he worked as a riveter, professional boxer, and factory worker until his retirement at age sixty, after which he began to paint.

Maldonado is fascinated with astronomy and the technology of the future. He envisions the possibility of high-speed transit via rocket-powered vehicles traveling through underground tubes. His work is also characterized by his use of symmetry, multiple spatial references and captions that help clarify the subject of the painting. These traits are all evident in San Francisco to New York, which portrays a terminal where travelers of the future will be able to traverse thousands of miles in an hour or less.

Source: Excerpted from brochure, Hispanic-American Art. (Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art).

Pictured: Alexander A. Maldonado (1901 Mexico–1969 USA), San Francisco to New York in One Hour,1969, oil, framed: 21 1/2 x 27 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson.