Lot 142: Glenn O. Coleman 1887 - 1932 , The Empire State Building oil on canvas

signed Coleman , l.r.; signed Glenn O. Coleman on the reverse oil on canvas

measurements 84 by 48 in. alternate measurements 213.4 by 121.9 cm.

Estate of the artist
Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach, New York (acquired as a gift from the above, circa 1933)
Acquired as a gift to the present owners from the above, June 10, 1998

PROPERTY FROM THE LONG BEACH HISTORICAL AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Glenn O. Coleman's career was in ascendancy when he died, aged 48, of a rare illness in May, 1932. Originally from the Midwest, he came to New York to become an artist. After studying with Robert Henri, he began selling paintings of Manhattan scenes to important patrons like John D. Rockefeller and Edward W. Root, as well as to museums including the Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée Luxembourg, Paris and the Detroit Art Institute. However he was often obliged to supplement his income with routine jobs - he served as an usher at Carnegie Hall, and was a police patrol officer in the community of Long Beach, L.I., where he lived modestly with his wife. He became known for depicting Manhattan skyscrapers in a dramatic Modernist style. The present canvas, one of the largest, represents what was at the time the newest and tallest addition to the skyline, the Empire State Building. The dirigible alludes to the short-lived and rather fantastic plan that would have airships moored to the building's mast and have passengers disembark - by ladders! - to the observation deck, whence they could proceed, by elevators, to the street.

Coleman's Estate was handled by his uncle, who donated most of his studio to the Whitney Museum of American Art; this museum held a memorial exhibition in October 1932, coincident with their publication of a monograph, part of a series on American artists.
This work was originally donated by the Estate to the Long Beach Public Library, then the only public institution in the community.