Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein II through Mr. Alexander Ince
The year that Alston painted Oscar Hammerstein's portrait in 1943, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! opened on Broadway. The show would run for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, finally closing in 1948. The 1955 film version of the musical would win two Academy Awards, for best score and best sound.
