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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1946

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Painting, Montana, from the United States series, 1946

This is a Painting. It was designed by E. McKnight Kauffer and made for (as the client) Container Corporation of America.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

It is dated 1946. Its medium is gouache. It is a part of the department.


The packaging manufacturer Container Corporation of America (CCA) played an influential role in supporting European émigré and American artists. The company made modern design central to its corporate identity. In 1946 CCA featured a series on the 48 states and invited Kauffer, among other artists, including Jacob Lawrence and Stuart Davis, to portray their home states. This is the original artwork Kauffer supplied for the advertisement featuring his native Montana.

It is credited Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Container Corporation of America.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 52.1 × 43.4 cm (20 1/2 × 17 1/16 in.) Frame H x W x D: 70.5 × 60.3 × 3.2 cm (27 3/4 × 23 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805137/ |title=Painting, Montana, from the United States series, 1946 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=14 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>