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History center to host book launch

PITTSBURGH -- Discover the life and work of pioneering industrial landscape artist Aaron Gorson from author and philanthropist Maxwell King as he shares insights from his new book, “Fire in the Night Sky: The Steel Mill Paintings of Aaron Gorson,” from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 during a book launch event at the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Smithsonian’s home in Pittsburgh.

Born in Lithuania, Gorson came to Philadelphia in 1890 at 18 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before continuing his studies in Paris. He later settled in Pittsburgh, where he painted powerful and dramatic nighttime scenes of the city’s steel mills until the early 1920s.

Featuring 39 Gorson paintings, “Fire in the Night Sky” places his art within the larger story of Pittsburgh’s steel industry, revealing how the industrial and technological achievements of the era transformed Pittsburgh and the world. It is the first complete biography of the man who captured Pittsburgh’s fiery steel mills on paper.

King also is the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers” and “American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane.” He is the former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and president of the Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

The author will be joined by Andy Masich, history center president and CEO, who will preview the museum’s upcoming exhibition on the life and artwork of Gorson, which will open on Nov. 14.

Following the program, King will sign copies of “Fire in the Night Sky.” Books will be available for purchase at the event.

For information and to purchase tickets, visit heinzhistorycenter.org/events.