Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Revolutionary Soldier

Alex Katz, Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Revolutionary Soldier, 1961, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Aaron Kozak, 1980.139.1
Copied Alex Katz, Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Revolutionary Soldier, 1961, oil on plywood, 55 7⁄8 x 17 1⁄2 x 6 3⁄8 in. (142.0 x 44.4 x 16.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Aaron Kozak, 1980.139.1

Artwork Details

Title
Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Revolutionary Soldier
Artist
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
55 7⁄8 x 17 1⁄2 x 6 3⁄8 in. (142.0 x 44.4 x 16.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Aaron Kozak
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on plywood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Dress — uniform — military uniform
  • Occupation — military — soldier
  • Figure male
  • Waterscape — river — Delaware River
  • History — United States — Revolution
Object Number
1980.139.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.139.1

Artwork Description

In 1959, Alex Katz began painting figures on canvas, cutting them out and then pasting them onto wooden boards. Two years later the playwright Kenneth Koch saw an exhibition of these and asked Katz to produce the props and sets for his one-act play George Washington Crossing the Delaware. In Koch's satire, Washington’s famous crossing was motivated by his childhood when, after cutting down the cherry tree, the young Washington swam across a river to avoid his father's wrath. The play became an underground hit largely because of Katz's irreverent image of Washington. At the time, art critic Irving Sandler described the cutouts as "the perfect setting for the delivery of such lines as the following from the father of our country: 'I am tired and I need sleep. Good night America.'"