Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog number |
P017 |
Artist |
Soyer, Isaac |
Title |
Scrubwomen |
Date |
1936 |
Object Name |
Lithograph |
Description |
Isaac Soyer's (1902-1981) print, done in 1936 for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, depicts two black women on their hands and knees, washing a checkered tile floor. The woman nearest to the viewer prepares her rag while the woman behind is completely bent over, already scrubbing. The setting is ambiguous; no details are forthcoming except for the pattern of the floor. The space could be a kitchen, rest room, subway corridor, or something altogether different. Perspective and foreshortening are inaccurate; the floor tilts uo too much and there is clearly a disparity of scale between the figures. Much of the space surrounding them is heavily shaded in. These areas of shadow do not seem to conform to any that would be cast by walls or furnishings. Indeed, they seem to function metaphorically, as conveyors of mood. This WPA print reflects the brutal reality of American life in the thirties, the same circumstances which brought the WPA into existence. Although social commentary was usually the main purpose of the Soyers' art, Isaac Soyer once admitted in an interview that this print was intended as a figure study, not as a social statement. Isaac hired models at 25 cents a night to pose for him, and this print is one of the works produced during those sessions. Its inception as a studio work explains the lack of detail in the setting. In spite of Isaac's comments, the socio-economic meaning of this image is undeniable and cannot be separated from purely formalistic concerns. Citation: Extract taken from research paper by Herbert R. Hartel, Jr. (1992) |
Medium/Material |
Ink on paper |
Dimensions |
H-12.375 W-15.875 inches |
Exhibition and Publication History |
*"Working Through the Great Depression," February 9 - June, 2009, Godwin-Ternbach Museum, CUNY, A. Winter and M. Simon, Curators. |
Culture |
American |