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Bethlehem Steel Works by Max Arthur Cohn / American Art
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Bethlehem Steel Works

1938 Max Arthur Cohn Born: London, England 1903 Died: New York, New York 1998 oil on canvas 24 x 32 in. (61.0 x 81.4 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mr. Max Arthur Cohn 1978.41.1 Smithsonian American Art Museum
4th Floor, Luce Foundation Center



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Bethlehem Steel Works
from American Art staff



Max Arthur Cohn painted Bethlehem Steel Works in 1938, during the Great Depression and a few short years before America's entry into World War II. The artist depicted one of the massive steel factories owned by Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Steel, now defunct, was once one of the largest steel producers in the United States. It produced the steel used in numerous American structural icons, most notably San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It also built 1,127 ships during World War II. In a letter about the painting, Cohn recalled being arrested in Bethlehem City, Pennsylvania, under suspicion of being a Nazi spy while painting a scene similar to this one in the summer of 1939 (The artist, to Harry Rand, February 20, 1978, The American Art Museum curatorial file).

For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.


Keywords

Architecture Exterior - industry - Bethlehem Steel Works

painting

paint - oil

fabric - canvas

About Max Arthur Cohn

Born: London, England 1903 Died: New York, New York 1998

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Max Arthur Cohn

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