Gottlieb Harry, Coal Mine Country, tusche lithograph, edition c. 25, 1936. Signed, titled, and dated in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with margins (1 to 1 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. Created for the Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project, New York City. Scarce.
Image size 11 5/16 x 15 1/4 inches; sheet size 13 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches.
At the height of the Great Depression, striking coal miners were forced from their jobs by plant owners unwilling to negotiate new union contracts. The unemployed miners began bootleg operations to dig coal from surface seams and sell it at low prices. In the spring of 1936, Harry Gottlieb and Elizabeth Olds travelled to Pennsylvania to see this bootleg system for themselves. The miners insisted that the two artists drive to a nearby town and join their union before making sketches. Gottlieb and Olds complied with the unionists’ demand and created paintings, drawings, and prints based on their first-hand observations.
Collections: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Syracuse University Art Museum.
