b/w mezzotint
1997
13 5/8 x 16 7/8
edition: 75
Hartley M1
signed in pencil
McPherson's night view of the Clairton steelworks is printed on light green laid paper referenced as Hartley M1. It is signed, titled and dated in pencil. Marked ed 75 and "imp" indicates that the artist printed the image himself. The artist's wife is from steel country and when visiting his in-laws, McPherson became fascinated with the dramatic views at night of the mills that still dot the landscape in western Pennsylvania.
Craig McPherson (American, b. 1948) Craig McPherson is known for his New York murals, paintings and mezzotint engravings. In 1998 he had his first museum retrospective at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. The show traveled to The Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2008 McPherson was commissioned by the Frick Museum to create an exhibition reflecting the heritage of steel production in Pittsburgh as part of that city’s 250th anniversary celebration. During the late 1970s and early 80s McPherson concentrated on New York City landscapes, primarily set at night, creating a series of paintings and mezzotints including the iconic image, "Yankee Stadium at Night". His work has been described as “cinematic,” the night scenes likened to film noir. One curator, describing work from this period, wrote “McPherson is almost literally ‘sculpting with light’.” In 2017, The British Museum included “Yankee Stadium at Night” in an exhibition, The American Dream: Pop to the Present. Craig McPherson’s work is included in numerous museum, corporate and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. These include The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The British Museum, London; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Boston Public Library; The Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh; The Cleveland Museum; Delaware Art Museum; The Detroit Fine Arts Institute; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England; The Fogg Museum at Harvard; The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; The Library of Congress; Minneapolis Institute of Art; National Gallery of Art, National Museum of American Art and The Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.; The New York Historical Society; Museum of the City of New York; The McNay Art Museum; San Francisco Museum of Fine Art; Whitney Museum of American Art.
