Filling the Icehouse. Harry Gottlieb (1895–1992). Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY.

One of America's first Social Realist painters, Harry Gottlieb was an illustrator for the US Navy and designed sets and costumes for theater. He joined the Works Progress Administration (WPA) / Federal Art Project a year after this painting was made. Here, he captures workmen as they move heavy blocks of ice with almost delicate precision. They appear to use very little effort and minimal trunk movement, relying instead on the ice picks' long levers and the almost frictionless runners to move the ice on the elevated platform.