The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Locomotives Watering
1932
(American, born France, 1898–1954)
Unframed: 61 x 91.4 cm (24 x 36 in.)
Bequest of Felicia Meyer Marsh 1979.64
© Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Reginald Marsh despised abstract art, describing it as "high and pure and sterile—no sex, no drinks, no muscles."Description
The title of Reginald Marsh’s painting refers to the process of refilling the water supply for a steam locomotive, a task taking place at left. Fascinated by trains and their attendant activities, the artist made sketches for this scene at the Erie Railroad yard in Jersey City, NJ.- Felicia Meyer Marsh [1912–1978], New York, NY, the artist's widowThe Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, by bequest in 1979
- Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Made in USA: L'art Américan, 1908-1947 (10 October-31 December 2001); traveled to Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts (18 January-31 March 2002); Montpellier, Musée Fabre (12 April-23 June 2002); cat. not numbered, illus. p. 186.Made in U.S.A., l'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme [FRAME]. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (October 5-December 31, 2001); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (January 17-March 31, 2002); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (April 10-June 25, 2002).Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Hand of Man: Images of the Industrial Age (31 March - 28 June 1987).Tokyo, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japanese Artists Who Studied in U.S.A. and the American Scene (24 July - 5 September 1982); traveled to Kyoto, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (14 September - 11 October 1982); cat. no. 92, p. 115.Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Musum of Art, American Realism and the Industrial Age (12 December 1980 - 18 January 1981); traveled to Lakewood, OH, Beck Center for the Cultural Arts (18 February - 15 March 1981); traveled to Columbus, OH, Columbus Museum of Art (11 April - 31 May 1981); in catalogue, Doezema discusses Marsh and the Fourteenth Street School's depictions of life and industry in New York City. Special attention is paid to Marsh's WPA-FAP shipping murals in NYC's Customs House. Locomotives Watering is reproduced and used to illustrate Marsh's fascination with commercial activities and "the city at work"; pp. 115-21, ill. no. 41 on p. 116.Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980).Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review 1979 (1980), no cat; see Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art.New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Reginald Marsh: Selections from the Felicia Meyer Marsh Bequest (13 June - 26 August 1979); traveled to Philadelphia, PA, Moore College of Art (7 - 29 September 1979); not reproduced.Newport Beach, CA, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Reginald Marsh: A Retrospective Exhibition (2 November - 10 December 1972); traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Art Center (8 January - 18 February 1973); traveled to Fort Worth, TX, Fort Worth Art Center Museum (27 February - 1 April 1973); traveled to Austin, TX, University of Texas at Austin Art Museum (15 April - 31 May 1973); exhibition catalogue, cat. no. 13.New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Reginald Marsh (21 September - 6 November 1955); traveled to The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (27 November - 25 December 1955); traveled to Detroit, MI, The Detroit Institute of Arts (13 January - 12 February 1956); traveled to St. Louis, MO, City Art Museum of St. Louis (2 March - 1 April 1956); traveled to Dallas, TX, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (15 April - 20 May 1956); traveled to Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum (10 June - 8 July 1956); traveled to Santa Barbara, CA, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (25 July - 26 August 1956); traveled to San Francisco, CA, San Francisco Museum of Art (13 September - 14 October 1956); exhibition catalogue, cat. no. 7, reproduced on unnumbered page; painting was lent to the exhibition by Marsh's wife.
- {{cite web|title=Locomotives Watering|url=false|author=Reginald Marsh|year=1932|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.64