SAM HYDE HARRIS (1889-1977)
175
●
THE IMPERIAL / LOS ANGELES - CHICAGO. Tempera maquette on board. Circa 1939.
39
1
/
2
x16
3
/
4
inches, 100
1
/
4
x42
1
/
2
cm.
Condition B+: water staining along right edge; abrasions in image; pin holes at edges. Painted on board.
Framed.
In the 1930s, “streamlined trains were among the most striking, visible and accessible examples of
Modernism” in America (Zega p. 104). “The streamliner was perfectly suited to the poster medium;
its smooth airflow profile offered the prospect of a respite from America’s stylistic preoccupation with
realism” (ibid). To the best of our knowledge this image was never turned into a poster, suggesting it
was a speculative work by the artist which the railroad did not accept. Not in Harris.
[4,000/6,000]
