Bargain Hunters

Kenneth Hayes Miller, Bargain Hunters, 1940, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.65, © 1940, Kenneth Hayes Miller
Copied Kenneth Hayes Miller, Bargain Hunters, 1940, oil on canvas, 30 7⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (78.4 x 91.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.65, © 1940, Kenneth Hayes Miller

Artwork Details

Title
Bargain Hunters
Artist
Date
1940
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
30 7⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (78.4 x 91.8 cm.)
Copyright
© 1940, Kenneth Hayes Miller
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • African American
  • Occupation — domestic — shopping
  • Architecture Interior — commercial — store
Object Number
1986.6.65
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.65

Artwork Description

During the forty years Kenneth Hayes Miller taught at the Art Students League in New York City, he encouraged a generation of American painters, including Reginald Marsh, Paul Cadmus, and Sara Roby, to find inspiration in contemporary life. Yet he also counseled compositional balance and the value of classic form. For his own work, Miller looked to the shoppers, salesgirls, strollers, and streetwalkers he encountered around Fourteenth Street and Union Square. In Bargain Hunters, he captured the crush of femininity on sale day. Although the women seem frozen in space, their eyes sparkle with the excitement of bargain hunting.


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.