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Paintings of Naval Aviation by American Artists

November 21 – December 12, 1943
Ground Floor, Central Gallery, West Central Lobby, Galleries G-9, G-10

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: This exhibition, held in cooperation with the Navy Department, presented 101 paintings and drawings by professional artists. They had been commissioned by Abbott Laboratories to illustrate the wartime activities of naval aviation. The exhibition was organized by Associated American Artists, Inc., of New York. At the opening, the works were presented to the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, for the United States government by Abbott Laboratories. The official explanatory captions were written by the Bureau of Aeronautics, United States Navy.

The exhibition went on to New York, Boston, and a coast-to-coast tour. Also included was a group of naval aviation photographs, the work of a special unit directed by Commander Edward J. Steichen, USNR.

Catalog: The Abbott Collection: Paintings of Naval Aviation. North Chicago: Abbott Laboratories, 1943.

Other Venues: New York
Boston and elsewhere