Herb Field Jr.

Dynamic 1950s Mid-Century Modern, Machine Age Industrial Scene, Blast Furnace

circa 1955

A dynamic 1930s, WPA era industrial scene watercolor of steel mill and factory workers by notable Chicago Modern artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful example of the artwork from the e...

A dynamic 1930s, WPA era industrial scene watercolor of a steel mill and factory workers by notable Chicago Modern artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful example of early Twentieth Cent...

A dynamic 1930s, WPA era industrial scene watercolor of a steel mill and factory workers by notable Chicago Modern artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful example of early Twentieth Cent...

A dynamic 1930s, WPA era industrial scene watercolor of a steel mill and factory workers by notable Chicago Modern artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful example of early Twentieth Cent...

1950s Oil on Board – Industrial Constructivist Factory Scene mid-century oil painting on board (signed “Alex” lower right), depicting an abstracted industrial complex in neo-Constr...

"Paper Making" WPA Industrial Mid-Century American Scene Social Realism Workers Douglas Crockwell (1904-1968) "Paper Making" 19 x 39 inches Oil on board, c. 1936 Signed verso Framed: 28 x 47 Provenance: Estate of the Artist BIO Spencer Douglass Crockwell was born into a comfortable middle class household on April 29, 1904 in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Charles Roland Crockwell, was a mining engineer; his mother, Cora, was the daughter of an Iowa attorney. He became a commercial artist and experimental filmmaker who spent a good part of his career creating illustrations and advertisements for the Saturday Evening Post. In 1907 the Crockwell family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated from high school and then attended from Washington University. Initially he studied engineering, but soon switched to business. While still an undergraduate, Crockwell took courses at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and quickly realized that he wanted to be an artist. After graduating from Washington University in 1926, Crockwell continued to study at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts until 1929. The following year he relocated to Chicago and continued his studies at the American Academy of Art. In 1930 and 1931 he studied in Europe on a Traveling Fellowship. In 1932 Douglass Crockwell moved to Glens Falls, New York, which was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The following year he married Margaret Braman. They had three children, a son Douglass and two daughters, Johanna and Margaret. During the depression he created murals and posters for the Works Progress Administration including Post Office murals in White River junction, Vermont; Endicott, New York; and Macon, Mississippi. In 1934 he painted Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. (the leading Glens Falls, New York company) for the WPA. In the 1930s Crockwell developed an interest in experimental animated films that occupied him for the rest of his life. In 1936 and 1937, he collaborated with David Smith, a sculptor, to create surrealist films. Because of his interest in experimental films, his output of paintings was limited to just twenty to forty illustrations a year during this time. Crockwell painted his first of many Saturday Evening Post cover in 1933. He also worked for Life, Look, and Esquire, and numerous national advertisers including Friskies dog food, Welch’s Grape Juice, Republic Steel...

Contemporary 1961 pastel painting of industrial scene by Hungarian artist Bizse Janos, 1920-1981. Matted and in a wood frame.

An original woodblock print dated 1965, titled "Our Town" but signed illegibly.