Fireplug
Brown was employed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) and produced prints at the Fine Print Workshop of Philadelphia. The linocut technique, in which an image is formed by carving into a block of linoleum, enabled Brown to achieve the appearance of a flattened space through an emphasis on planar surfaces. Best known for his watercolor portraits, he tended to reserve everyday scenes—like this image of people cooling off in a makeshift fire-hydrant sprinkler—for his prints.
Artwork Details
- Title: Fireplug
- Artist: Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr. (American, Wilmington, North Carolina 1907–1994 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Publisher: Published by WPA
- Date: ca. 1940
- Medium: Linocut
- Dimensions: block: 6 1/4 x 5 in. (15.9 x 12.7cm) sheet: 9 x 7 3/4 in. (22.9 x 19.7 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of the Work Projects Administration, Pennsylvania, 1943
- Object Number: 43.46.128
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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