This kinetic bustling Mid-Century Modern cityscape served as commissioned artwork for a travel poster for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The large gouache on illustration board painting shows a soaring image of the iconic Le Corbusier designed United Nations Building in midtown Manhattan, being admired by passerby’s from all walks of life. The UN Headquarters was completed in 1951 and in many ways revitalized the East River corridor of NYC, turning the area into a tourist attraction. The completed poster showed the artwork with a text overlay that reads “Always Inspiring! New York – Go Via Pennsylvania Railroad.” Painting is very nicely framed under glass, a modern reproduction poster of the image is included in the sale.

The design for the United Nations complex was drawn by an international committee of architects, the United Nations Board of Design. The most notable of the architects were Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Wallace K. Harrison, who headed the board. Some renowned architects including Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius were excluded due to their historical links with Germany, the instigator of the Second World War. The international style was chosen by the board members as it symbolized a new start after the war. A plan by Le Corbusier, known as Project 23A, was taken as the basis for the design. After many months of heated discussions, mainly between Le Corbusier and the other architects, the final plan 23W, drawn up by Oscar Niemeyer, was adopted by all members of the board. It consists of a complex with four buildings: the Secretariat building, the General Assembly building, the Conference building and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library.