5: HISTORIC ALTERNATE COLOR SCHEME FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI

The City of Miami (Late 1930s)
This unsigned original tempera painting on tissue with its label from the Styling Section of General Motors' Electro-Motive Division is an alternative color scheme for the 1940 City of Miami passenger train. The final scheme selected replaced the lightning stripe shown here with a large green wave, as shown in https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/City_of_Miami_Illinois_Central_Railroad.JPG. In the final scheme, Illinois Central's trademark green diamond (which is wider than it is tall) shown here was replaced by a red diamond that was taller than it was wide. This painting and others like it in this collection show how much effort General Motors stylists made to present alternative designs to their clients.
Image size 8 x 20, overall measures 20 x 25 inches.
Very good original condition, noting a horizontal brown stain just above the locomotive cab.
Provenance: The Fred Roniger Estate Collection.
$500 - $5,000