The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

The People Work: Morning

The People Work: Morning

1937
(American, 1904–1967)
Platemark: 34.8 x 47.9 cm (13 11/16 x 18 7/8 in.); Sheet: 40.5 x 57.7 cm (15 15/16 x 22 11/16 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: Fine and Looney 141
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This series of lithographs shows the artist Benton Spruance’s affinity for Mexican mural painting by such artists as Diego Rivera.

Description

These unusual cross-section views of New York City imagine the daily commute in the big city as a beehive or ant colony that never stops. Morning is the subway commute, while Noon presents dock workers on break during a bustling lunch hour. Evening is back to the subway with the buses running overhead. And Night shows workers performing maintenance while others enjoy time off at a bar, only to start all over again the next day. Jammed with commuters both above and below street level, the series highlights the intermingling of strangers that animates urban life.
  • James Heald, Worcester, MA
  • Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=The People Work: Morning|url=false|author=Benton Spruance|year=1937|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.114.1