Mitchell Siporin, Back of the Yards, 1938, oil on canvas, 24 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (61.3 x 91.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.83
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Back of the Yards
- Artist
- Date
- 1938
- Location
- Dimensions
- 24 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (61.3 x 91.7 cm)
- Credit Line
- Transfer from General Services Administration
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Architecture Exterior — industry — railroad yard
- Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
- New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — Illinois
- Occupation — industry — railroad
- Figure group — family
- Object Number
- 1971.447.83
Artwork Description
This image of a downtrodden family making their way through a landscape that combines urban and rural elements has the haunting quality of a nightmare. It emphasizes the misery that workers across the country experienced during the Great Depression. Mitchell Siporin was sympathetic to these workers and felt a connection with them as a Jewish man whose family had suffered and been forced to leave their homeland. He once said: “I have known depression and war and lived in other countries than my own. Everything I have seen and felt I have [hoped would] . . . vindicate and reinforce my artistic ideas . . .” (O’Toole, Mitchell Siporin: The Early Years 1930-1950, 1990)