Miner's Cabin (Washington County, Missouri)
Miner's Cabin (Washington County, Missouri)
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
American, 1874 - 1952
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (14.0 x 21.6 cm)
In 1920, the De Lore Baryta Company and J.C. Finck Mineral Milling Company commissioned Berninghaus to create a comprehensive visual record of barytes mining in Washington County, Missouri. The resulting works—oil paintings and pencil sketches created from life in the Ozark foothills—appeared in The Story of Barytes, a landmark publication documenting the region's mining heritage. These artworks served a dual purpose: capturing industrial processes and mining life with artistic integrity while preserving an irreplaceable record of early twentieth-century labor and landscape transformation.
This is a sketch of a miner's cabin showing the simple architecture and settlement patterns of the mining community. These drawings document how mining shaped both the landscape and human habitation. The modest but functional construction speaks to the practical needs of mining families, while the surrounding landscape provides context for the isolated but sustaining communities that mining built.
Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874–1952) was one of America's most significant twentieth-century artists. Born in St. Louis and trained at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, Berninghaus became known as "America's Foremost Portrayer of Western Life and Scenes." A founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, he won numerous prestigious awards and maintained deep artistic roots in his native Missouri, creating major works for the Missouri State Capitol and the City Art Museum of St. Louis.
This is a sketch of a miner's cabin showing the simple architecture and settlement patterns of the mining community. These drawings document how mining shaped both the landscape and human habitation. The modest but functional construction speaks to the practical needs of mining families, while the surrounding landscape provides context for the isolated but sustaining communities that mining built.
Oscar E. Berninghaus (1874–1952) was one of America's most significant twentieth-century artists. Born in St. Louis and trained at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, Berninghaus became known as "America's Foremost Portrayer of Western Life and Scenes." A founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, he won numerous prestigious awards and maintained deep artistic roots in his native Missouri, creating major works for the Missouri State Capitol and the City Art Museum of St. Louis.
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Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Oil on Artist's Board
