Miners' Train

Dateca. 1970

Artist Jack Savitsky (1910-1991)

MediumOil enamels on plywood

DimensionsUnframed: 24 3/4 x 41 1/8in. (62.9 x 104.5cm) and Framed: 25 9/16 x 42 1/16in.

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Alastair B. Martin

Object number1971.110.1

DescriptionA brightly colored train runs from R to L across the picture plane, the scene being shown at nighttime. A blue engine with lighter blue wheels and front, yellow trim, and red pipes and gears pulls two orange passenger cars having blue roofs. The train runs on a black track with red cross ties. Its yellow head light beams through the night and light pink smoke pours from its smokestack. The engineer and passengers are represented in the windows by yellow outlines of their profiles. In the lower right foreground are six orange, blue-roofed, row houses numbered 1- 6, with a blue-roofed yellow tower behind them. Behind the train are two more groups of orange houses and a group of tall, bright blue factory buildings. Two rows of triangular-shaped pine trees recede into the distance. Two hills are depicted beneath a black sky with a full yellow moon at upper right.

It is unclear whether the present, flat, black-painted frame was on the picture when it was acquired in 1971 or added upon acquisition.
Label TextThe bright enamels of Savitsky's paintings contrast sharply with the drab surroundings he must have experienced during thirty-five years of work in the Carbon County, Pennsylvania, coal mines. The artist began painting in his youth and frequently produced scenes related to his vocation. Here, a brightly painted train bears miners to or from work beneath a black night sky.
InscribedIn paint above the doors in the buildings at lower right are the numbers: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7." Lettered on the train are "Reading," "R.R.," "Miners Train" (twice), and "938." The large building in the background bears the words: "Silver Creek." In the lower left corner is: "SAVITSKY."
ProvenanceFrom the artist to Sterling Strauser, Stroudsburg, Penn.; to Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, Katonah, NY; to CWF.