San Francisco to New York in One Hour

Alexander A. Maldonado, San Francisco to New York in One Hour, 1969, oil on canvas and wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.126
Copied Alexander A. Maldonado, San Francisco to New York in One Hour, 1969, oil on canvas and wood, 18 x 24 in. (45.8 x 61.0 cm.) stretcher, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.126

Artwork Details

Title
San Francisco to New York in One Hour
Artist
Date
1969
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 x 24 in. (45.8 x 61.0 cm.) stretcher
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas and wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Architecture — vehicle — automobile
  • Cityscape — California — San Francisco
  • Cityscape — imaginary
  • Architecture — vehicle — spacecraft
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — airport
Object Number
1986.65.126
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.126

Artwork Description

Alexander Maldonado created many paintings that showed his vision of a world free from pollution, war, racism, and parking problems. He called San Francisco to New York in One Hour a "twentieth-century painting," because he thought rapid travel across the country might actually happen before the year 2000 (Lynda Hartigan, Made with Passion, 1990). The stripes, swirls, and dots of color in this image evoke a fast-paced, high-tech world in which it is easy to imagine people being propelled across the country in just a few minutes. Maldonado often decorated the front and back of his frames and once claimed to have used more than a hundred colors (Cathy Curtis, "An intriguing interview with Bay Area artists," The Independent and Gazette, May 7, 1980).