Building the United Nations – #2 – Ramp over F.D.R. Drive

Harold Weston, Building the United Nations--#2--Ramp over F.D.R. Drive, 1950, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Committee of the Weston United Nations Paintings, 1955.11.4
Copied Harold Weston, Building the United Nations--#2--Ramp over F.D.R. Drive, 1950, oil on canvas, 42 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (107.0 x 91.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Committee of the Weston United Nations Paintings, 1955.11.4

Artwork Details

Title
Building the United Nations – #2 – Ramp over F.D.R. Drive
Artist
Date
1950
Location
Dimensions
42 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (107.0 x 91.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Committee of the Weston United Nations Paintings
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Cityscape — river — East River
  • Occupation — industry — construction
  • Architecture — machine — crane
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — United Nations
Object Number
1955.11.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1955.11.4

Artwork Description

Harold Weston spent the postwar years in New York and was active in numerous relief projects. He believed that the United Nations “was the greatest hope for a better world” and created a series of six paintings to show the construction of its headquarters from 1949 to 1952. To be able to see the internal structure of the building evokes the hopes of those who created the organization, intended as an open and transparent forum where people from all over the world could come and resolve their differences.