Hilton, Roy (American, 1891 - 1963), Laparotrachelotomy, 1943, oil on canvas, signed Roy Hilton lower right, framed measuring 34 x 29 inches, Provenance: A friend and colleague of Hilton, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pa.; A regional surgeon, Roy Hilton grew up Winchester, Massachusetts, and attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts before entering the Eric Pape School to study art. In 1928, he came to Pittsburgh to become an instructor at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) the beginning of a nearly thirty year teaching career. He was an influential member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and exhibited in the Carnegie International exhibition in 1930, 1933, 1935, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, and 1949. He was chosen for the honor of the Carnegie Museum's annual one-man exhibition in 1943. Hilton had many national associations with artists and institutions exhibiting in 1942 at the Metropolitan Museum in the Artists for Victory Exhibition; at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Museum of Modern Art; and the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington D. C. Simplification of form and the play of light were some of Hilton's primary interests as can be seen in his painting Winter Day. The subject is the working and middle class housing of Pittsburgh which, due to the city's unique geographical setting, marched up and down the hillsides often requiring staircases rather than side walks for pedestrian travel. Hilton's strong sense of geometry and minimal use of color emphasizes the formal elements of the painting including pattern and repetition.