 |  
Featuring a Depression-era machinist at work creating a Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine, this 1940 artwork by WPA artist Alton Tobey combines the unusual muted palate and composition of the regionalist movement with the dystopian feel of the surrealists. This powerful oil on canvas was created for the East Hartford Pratt & Whitney plant, and presents a deeply moving picture of industrialism in the lead up to World War II.
The Connecticut based artist Alton Tobey began his career in the midst of the Depression and worked as an active WPA artist in the Federal Art Project, creating murals throughout Connecticut. His work can be seen in the East Hartford, CT post office, and the Hartford Library. Later in his career the artist returned to mural work, creating pieces for the Smithsonian Institute and Douglas MacArthur memorial. Other highlights of Tobey's career include a series of profound illustrations recounting the saga of humanity from the Neolithic period to the 20th century called "The Epic of Man," which he created on commission for "Life Magazine" where he also worked as a cover illustrator. A list of the artists commissions and career: Education: Yale School of Fine Arts, B.F.A. & M.F.A. Taught at: Yale School of Fine Arts City College, New York City 92nd St. YM-YWHA, New York City Affiliations: Hudson River Contemporary Artists - President Emeritus National Society of Mural Painters - President Emeritus Artists Equity of New York - President Emeritus Mamaroneck Artists Guild - President Emeritus International Arts Association - Past Vice-President Memberships: Abraxis League of Present Day Artists Fine Arts Federation American Society of Contemporary Artists Metropolitan Arts Association Who Was Who in American Art Museums: Smithsonian Amer. Art Museum; Wash, DC Ntnl. Mus. Amer. Illustration; Newport, RI Wadsworth Athenaeum; Hartford CT Norfolk Museum; Norfolk, VA Museum of the City of NY; NYC NY Historical Society; NY Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum; NYC West Point Museum; West Point, NY MacArthur Memorial; Norfolk, VA Jewish Museum; NYC Met Opera Museum; Lincoln Center, NYC Hillandale Museum; Chadds Ford, PA Goshen Hall of Fame; Goshen, NY Awards: PWA Mural Award, 1939 Westchester Society Merit Award Edwin Abby Mural Award, 1965 Grumbacher Awards, 1982, 1985 Westchester Council for the Arts, 1987 Lindner Memorial Award, 1992 Murals: Tazewell Museum; Tazewell, VA 16 Chief Justices; St. Paul, MN Signing of the Constitution; St. Paul, MN Roots of Thomasville; Thomasville, GA Intrepid Sea, Air, Space; New York, NY Smithsonian Museum (2); Washington, DC California Bank, Rockefeller Center; NYC American Bureau of Shipping; NYC Council on Fitness; Washington, DC U.S. Post Office; East Hartford, CT MacArthur Memorial, (6); Norfolk, VA Falstaff Mural; St. Louis, MO Three Murals for Saudi Arabia; Jidda, SA History of Transportation; Hartford, CT Project 400 (14 Murals); Chadds Ford, PA Evyan Perfumes/Cheseborough; NYC Campbell Avenue Library; E. Hartford, CT Eastchester Town Hall; Eastchester, NY Liebowitz Family (2); New York, NY Roots of Westchester County; White Plains, NY Publications: Life Magazine Iconagraphy of Stradivari American Artist Readers' Digest Spotlight Epic of Man - Life The Plate Collection Magazine Birds of Tikai - Museum of Natural History The World Book Encyclopedia Man and Power - Western Publishing The Golden Book of American History (in 12 volumes - 300 paintings by Tobey) Corporate collections: ABC TV; New York, NY Charles Pfizer Co.; New York, NY Readers' Digest; Pleasantville, NY Ciba-Geigy; Ardsley NY American Cyanamid; Bound Brook, NJ General Foods Corp.; White Plains, NY Evyan Perfumes; New York, NY Portraits: Albert Einstein Pope John Paul II Ronald Reagan Charles Pfizer Golda Meir Alexander Calder Cardinal Cooke Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins Robert Merrill E. Ronald Harriman Robert Frost Douglas MacArthur Alfred DelBello Robert Merrill John L. Lewis Charles Picker John F. Kennedy & Robert Kennedy Government & other projects: Neuberger Museum; Purchase, NY Dept. of Commerce; Washington, DC Amer. Machine/Foundry; White Plains, NY President's Council on Fitness; Wash., DC Yonkers Professional Hospital; Yonkers, NY Iona College; New Rochelle, NY NYU Law Library; New York, NY Jewish Community Center; White Plains, NY Instituto Norteamericano del Arte; Mexico American Center; Stockholm, Sweden Amer. Bureau of Shipping; New York, NY The National Academy; New York, NY St. Patrick's Cathedral; New York, NY St. Francis Hospital; Hartford, CT Elmira College; Elmira, NY Hofstra University; Long Island, NY Murray Av. School; Larchmont, NY Mercy College; Dobbs Ferry, NY Limited editions: Royal Doulton Plates; London, England Lucien Picard; New York, NY Scafa Tournabene; West Nyack, NY Numa, Ltd.; Akron, OH International collections: Copenhagen, Denmark; Minori, Italy; Jerusalem, Israel; Lima, Peru; LaRochelle, France; Stockholm, Sweden; Athens, Greece; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Mexico City, Mexico; Tepotzian, Mexico One Man Shows: Mari Gallery; Woodstock, NY American Center; Stockholm, Sweden Alliance Galleria; Copenhagen, Denmark Cape East Gallery; Provincetown, MA Pietrantoni Gallery; New York, NY Bridge Gallery; White Plains, NY Mamaroneck Artists' Guild; Larchmont, NY Silvermine Artists Guild; New Canaan, CT Instituto Mexicano Norteamericano; Mexico Galleria Satellite; Mexico City, Mexico Alan Brown Gallery; Hartsdale, NY Burliuk Gallery; New York, NY Katonah Gallery; Katonah, NY One Man Shows: (continued) Portrait Gallery; Westport, CT Charles Mann Gallery; New York, NY Casa de Aquarella, Mexico City, Mexico Monserrat Gallery; New York, NY Larchmont Art Gallery; Larchmont, NY Jewish Center; New Haven, CT Alice Tully Hall; Lincoln Center, NYC Riverside Museum; New York, NY Westchester Art Society; White Plains, NY Byways Gallery; Sarasota, FL Byways Gallery; Bar Harbor, ME Gladstone Gallery; Woodstock, NY Bloomingdales; White Plains, NY Jalapa Festival, 1993 Art on Tour; 2-year traveling show Group shows: University of Delaware; Newark, DE University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA Trinity College; Hartford, CT Yale School of Fine Arts; New Haven, CT Sara Lawrence College; Bronxville, NY Bennington College; Bennington, VT University of Maine; Orono, ME Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center; NYC Lever Brothers; New York, NY Broome Street Gallery; New York, NY Artists Equity Gallery; New York, NY Mamaroneck Artists Guild; Mamaroneck, NY Hudson River Museum; Yonkers, NY Westchester Art Society; White Plains, NY Silvermine Guild; New Canaan, CT White Plains Library; White Plains, NY Larchmont Library; Larchmont, NY Radison Hotel; Mexico City, Mexico Hammond Museum; North Salem, NY Union Carbide; New York, NY Mitsikushi; Tokyo, Japan National Art Gallery; New York, NY Gloucester, MA Manchester, VT Newport, RI  |                  
|         | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
