"My work, whatever may be its virtues or lack of virtues, is totally contemporary, based on drawings made outdoors. I am an industrial printmaker..."

Noble Industrial

Currently on view in the first floor Print Gallery

While John A. Noble (1913–1983) is known for having chronicled the last days of the Age of Sail through his art, he was also an advocate for the modern maritime industries that populated New York’s working waterfront in the 20th century.  This exhibition of rarely seen lithographs, paintings, and drawings contextualizes Noble and his relationship with industry within the century in which he lived and worked.  He produced most of these pieces by way of commissions, which he actively sought from large companies, particularly in the early 1950s.  These compositions demonstrate Noble’s dedication to accuracy and passion for preserving maritime history.  As a result, his oeuvre depicts as much steel as it does wood, as many diesel vessels as it does schooners, and as much active building as it does wrecks and decay. 

This exhibition was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and by a grant from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.