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Tiff Miner with Rattle Box

Tiff Miner with Rattle Box

 American, 1874 - 1952
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
7 x 10 1/2 in. (17.8 x 26.7 cm)
Signed Lower Right

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.

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.
Weaving an Apache Basket
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
Oil on Board
Return to Camp
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
Oil on Artist Board
Shipping Platform, Tiff, Missouri
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Oil on Artist Board
Miners at Work in the Barytes Field (Washington County, Missouri)
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Oil on Artist's Board
Baryte Fields - Delore Farm
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Oil on Artist Board
Young Miner
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing on Paper
Happy Family of Ore Miners
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
Mules and Cart
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
Pencil Drawing
Miner's Cabin (Washington County, Missouri)
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
Oxen, Unloading to Tiff Bins (Mining Operations)
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
JC Finck Mineral Milling Company
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
c. 1920
Pencil Drawing
Winter Pasture
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus
Oil on Canvas