Oil Refinery – Fort Worth, Texas

Pattie Richardson East, Oil Refinery--Fort Worth, Texas, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.120
Pattie Richardson East, Oil Refinery--Fort Worth, Texas, 1934, oil on canvas, 36 1⁄8 x 48 1⁄8 in. (91.9 x 122.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.120

Artwork Details

Title
Oil Refinery – Fort Worth, Texas
Artist
Date
1934
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
36 1⁄8 x 48 1⁄8 in. (91.9 x 122.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — Texas
  • Landscape — Texas — Fort Worth
  • Architecture — industry — refinery
  • Architecture — industry — storage tank
Object Number
1964.1.120
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1964.1.120

Artwork Description

Pattie Richardson East painted Oil Refinery at a time when Americans turned to industry as their only hope to break out of the Great Depression. The large oil refinery in this image, with its full silos and active smokestacks, is encompassing. The stark landscape hints at years of active use. In the early part of the twentieth century this was a common scene in the Texas landscape. East created this painting while working for the government-sponsored Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which paid artists to create works for public display. The PWAP was one of numerous federal aid programs created under President Roosevelt's New Deal. The painting once hung in a Fort Worth high school near the artist's home and was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art's 1934 exhibition in Washington, D.C., on PWAP artists.

Works by this artist (4 items)

Martín Ramírez, Soldado with American Flag, ca. 1950-1953, crayon, watercolor, pencil on various papers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.194
Soldado with American Flag
Artist
Dateca. 1950-1953
crayon, watercolor, pencil on various papers
Not on view
Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Chorus Line), ca. 1950, watercolor, crayon and pencil on joined papers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1991.96.4R
Untitled (Chorus Line)
Artist
Dateca. 1950
watercolor, crayon and pencil on joined papers
Not on view
Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Church), ca. 1950, crayon, pencil, and watercolor on various joined papers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.192
Untitled (Church)
Artist
Dateca. 1950
crayon, pencil, and watercolor on various joined papers
Not on view
Martín Ramírez, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, ca. 1953, crayon, pencil, and colored pencil on joined papers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.193
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Artist
Dateca. 1953
crayon, pencil, and colored pencil on joined papers
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Inez Nathaniel-Walker, Woman with Bowl of Flowers, 1974, felt-tipped pen and ink, ballpoint pen and ink, crayon, and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.190
Woman with Bowl of Flowers
Artist
Date1974
felt-tipped pen and ink, ballpoint pen and ink, crayon, and pencil on paper
Not on view
Image Not Available
Double Portrait with Bald Man
Artist
Date1977
felt-tipped pen and ink, ballpoint pen and ink, crayon, and pencil on paper mounted on brown paperboard
Not on view
Inez Nathaniel-Walker, Double Portrait, 1977, felt-tipped pen and ink, crayon, and pencil on paperboard mounted to paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.188
Double Portrait
Artist
Date1977
felt-tipped pen and ink, crayon, and pencil on paperboard mounted to paperboard
Not on view
Gene Davis, Untitled, 1976, pencil, colored pencil, and crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Florence Coulson Davis, 2000.43.12
Untitled
Artist
Date1976
pencil, colored pencil, and crayon on paper
Not on view