Artwork Page for Siesta

Details / Information for Siesta

Siesta

1943

William E. Smith

(American, 1913–1997)
Culture
America, Ohio, Cleveland
Medium
linocut
Measurements
Plate: 22.9 x 20.4 cm (9 x 8 1/16 in.); Sheet: 27.8 x 21.6 cm (10 15/16 x 8 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1943.244
Catalogue raisonné
Teller 17 (as Poverty and Fatigue); Salsbury, Benay, and Kruse 98
Edition
21, 25, or 70
Copyright
© William E. Smith
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

With a fellow artist, William E. Smith went on to found the first gallery specifically devoted to African American art in Los Angeles after World War II.

Description

William E. Smith conceived of this print at the height of the Great Depression as a statement on the struggles of unemployment, especially in Black communities, during that global economic downturn. He originally titled it Poverty and Fatigue, dramatically shifting our interpretation of a man who slumps forward and gazes downward. In this context, the man’s well-kept clothing might relate to a job search while his defeated pose could suggest the difficulty he faces in finding work. Smith himself benefited from federally funded support for unemployed artists that occasionally subsidized the salaries of Karamu teaching artists.
Black-and-white print depicting a person sitting slumped on steps, hands hanging between their spread knees, wrists crossed. They look down, showing only the top of their newsboy cap, circular with seams radiating from a central button. They wear a loose suit, one trouser leg folded, the other unfolded. Hash marks shade the print.

Siesta

1943

William E. Smith

(American, 1913–1997)
America, Ohio, Cleveland

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