Subway
Eichenberg left his native Germany for New York after the election of Adolf Hitler in 1933. He arrived in the United States during the worst of the Great Depression and, in response to challenging times, wrote about himself and his fellow artists eschewing abstraction and adapting social realism, which reflected the "difficult problems of the day." His efforts are on view in this depiction of weary subway riders, their downtrodden state underscored by the juxtaposition of the smiling woman in the advertisement to the left with the downcast woman seated below it.
Artwork Details
- Title: Subway
- Artist: Fritz Eichenberg (American, Cologne, Germany 1901–1990 Peace Dale, Rhode Island)
- Date: 1934
- Medium: Wood engraving
- Dimensions: block: 6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (15.9 x 12.1 cm) sheet: 12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: John B. Turner Fund, 1967
- Object Number: 67.624.1
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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