The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 19, 2026

A horizontally oriented etching depicts a dense, monochromatic industrial landscape. Two rows of trucks labeled "YELLOW," "MAYFLOWER," and "GLOBAL" move right across the foreground. In the middle ground, railroad tracks and skeletal power towers stand before crowded factories labeled "MIDWEST STEEL" and "REPUBLIC STEEL." Thick, patterned plumes of smoke rise from numerous smokestacks, filling the sky with swirling lines. Tiny figures are scattered along the lower edge and near buildings.

Steel City

1995

John A. Knudsen

(American, 1938–2014)
America
etching
Sheet: 61 x 99.1 cm (24 x 39 in.)
Gift of Michael Knudsen 2023.25
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

John Knudsen requested and received permission to sketch on the grounds of the United States Steel Corporation to make this print.

Description

John Knudsen was a lifelong printmaker who was based near Chicago and trained in the influential workshop of engraver Stanley William Hayter. He used the etching techniques learned there to depict the Midwestern landscapes in works such as this one. It depicts the United States Steel Corporation, a steel mill in Gary, Indiana, that Knudsen drove past regularly. With dense lines, meticulous detail, and an imposing scale, the artist evoked the dynamism of the region’s major export at that time.
  • ?-2023
    Michael Knudsen, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    March 6, 2023-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Steel City|url=false|author=John A. Knudsen|year=1995|access-date=19 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.25