Price Tag: Electricity
name: label: maker
content: Osborn, Robert
notes: label: Description
content: This comic art drawing includes a dense network of power lines and towering transmission structures dominating the landscape, cutting across a field strewn with tree stumps. The image shows a stark juxtaposition of industrial infrastructure and environmental degradation. Osborn offers a critical commentary on the cost of energy production, particularly its impact on the natural world. The handwritten annotation on the cover sheet reads: “Price tag – electricity.”
label: Description
content: The American satirical cartoonist Robert Chesley Osborn (1904–1994) was best known for his expressive black and white line drawings, which appeared widely in books, magazines, and political commentary. His work is characterized by bold, energetic lines, exaggerated expressions, and a biting sense of humor that addresses human behavior, authority, and social conventions. The Graphic Arts Collection holds 50 drawings by Robert Osborn. Each drawing is accompanied by a cover sheet bearing handwritten notes about the individual drawings.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ZZ.RSN82524X02
label: catalog number
content: 2025.0038.278
label: accession number
content: 2025.0038
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Drawing
label: Object Type
content: Drawings
label: Other Terms
content: Drawing; Crayon
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: conte crayon (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 37.9 cm x 31.5 cm; 14 29/32 in x 12 13/32 in