95

Charles Krutch

(1849-1934)

Generator Hall of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Pickwick Landing Dam on the Tennessee River. 1933.

Silver print.
With the title in pencil in an unknown hand and a Brown Brothers stamp on verso.
The image 9 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (23.8 x 19.1 cm.), the sheet slightly larger

  • Notes:
    Charles Krutch succeeded Lewis W. Hine as the photographer for the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1934. Only the year prior, in May of 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill creating the Tennessee Valley Authority, an independent agency of the federal government, to improve agriculture, control flooding, and provide cheap electricity for the seven-state region.

    Krutch documented the transformation of the Tennessee Valley by TVA for 20 years, retiring as head of its graphic arts department. His photographs were included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In a 1937 retrospective on the first century of photography, The New York Times featured a Krutch photo of Norris Dam as emblematic of what could be done with a camera. The Times wrote, "The beauty of these dams . . . is ageless; it is the honest beauty of a fine tool, shaped by the purpose of its use. This is architecture of lasting worth. Why shouldn't we insist that other government architecture be equally designed?"
  • Condition:
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    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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January 29, 2026 12:00 PM EST
New York, NY, US

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