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
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

Works by this artist (314 items)

View all artworks
Henry Wolf, Portrait of a Lady, 1906, wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.228
Portrait of a Lady
Artist
Date1906
wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Mrs. Alexander Campbell, 1913, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.282
Mrs. Alexander Campbell
Artist
Date1913
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Mrs. Deborah Franklin, 1898, wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.160
Mrs. Deborah Franklin
Artist
Date1898
wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Miss Eleanor Gordon, 1908, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.238
Miss Eleanor Gordon
Artist
Date1908
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view

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.

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Unidentified (American?), (Untitled--Two Girls), ca. 1875, mechanical reproduction on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1970.355.807
(Untitled – Two Girls)
Artist
Unidentified (American?)
Dateca. 1875
mechanical reproduction on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Robert William Vonnoh, Phoebe, 1892, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.74
Phoebe
Artist
Date1892
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Frank Hector Tompkins, Henry Wolf, Mother and Sleeping Child, 1894, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.94
Mother and Sleeping Child
Artist
Date1894
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, The Madonna of the Rose, 1892, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.76
The Madonna of the Rose
Artist
Date1892
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view