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Lou Barlow'Tenant Farmers' — Depression Era, WPA1936
1936
About the Item
Lou Barlow (Louis Breslow), 'Tenant Farmers', color wood engraving, 1936, edition 25. Signed, titled, and numbered '15/25' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, with fresh colors, on Basingwerk Parchment, cream wove paper; the full sheet with wide margins (1 1/2 to 2 1/8 inches); a tack hole in the outside top center margin, well away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce.
Image size 7 15/16 x 10 15/16 inches (202 x 278 mm); sheet size 11 x 15 inches (279 x 381 mm).
Created by the artist for the New York City Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Literature: 'Depression Printmakers as Workers', Mary Francey, 1988.
Impressions of this work are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Yale University Art Gallery.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lou Barlow (1908-2011) was a lifelong New Yorker whose printmaking career spanned eight decades—he lived to 103. Barlow graduated from the National Academy of Design in 1930. He worked for the Public Works of Art Project until it was dissolved in 1934, after which he was employed by the Federal Art Project from 1935 until 1941. Barlow’s wood engravings, characterized by masterful design and meticulous technique, skillfully depicted the socio-political landscape of his time, evoking emotions ranging from poignant to humorous.
During World War II, he worked as a medical illustrator for the United States Army, and after his discharge, he pursued a civilian career in medical illustration and prosthetic design. Barlow changed his name from Louis Breslow to Lou Barlow in 1951 and resumed his printmaking after retirement. In 1994, he was recognized as a National Academician for his long and distinguished professional career.
Barlow was a member of the American Watercolor Society and the Philadelphia Print Club. His celebrated graphic works are represented in the collections of the Amon Carter Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Illinois State Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, New York Public Library, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the University of California Santa Barbara.
ABOUT THE IMAGE
"The continuing lack of fair access to land by poor whites and Blacks became evermore critical during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when sharecropping and tenant farming were one of the only means of feeding your family in the rural South. ...
"Sharecropping and tenant farming are somewhat distinct from one another. Sharecroppers usually had no house, land, seeds, equipment, tools, or mules, but could feed their families, since they knew how to farm if given the chance. Alternatively, tenant farming involved a farmer who had some equipment, livestock, and maybe a house, but no land to farm or any place to grow food for their family. The tenant farmer rented the land, and provided his own tools and mule, and received half the crop as payment. This was far less onerous, but still quite tenuous.
"A typical sharecropper agreement would include cash advancements tied to the crop, as well as many detailed stipulations, and if a sharecropper failed to meet them by a set time for any reason, their share was diminished. This was a predatory technique that kept most sharecroppers and many tenant farmers always in debt against even the next year’s crop that had not yet been planted."
—excerpted from Michael Sligh's excellent online article "The New Deal’s Impacts on Sharecropping and Tenant Farming in the US South: A History."
- Creator:
- Creation Year:1936
- Dimensions:Height: 7.94 in (20.17 cm)Width: 10.94 in (27.79 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Myrtle Beach, SC
- Reference Number:Seller: 1040341stDibs: LU532313513982
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