Karl Kappes (American, 1861–1943)

Back Street in Toledo
Circa 1930
Oil on canvas
Gift of Karl Kappes 1945.10175

How much will it cost? $250

Here Kappes depicts a newly emerging skyscraper in Toledo. This could be the Art Deco National City Bank building, erected in 1932. While many historians associate the construction boom of the early 1930s with economic collapse and the Great Depression, others see these buildings as SYMBOLS OF HOPE during a time of widespread unemployement.

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Don Wietmarschen for adopting this work.