Allan Rohan Crite, School's Out, 1936, oil on canvas, 30 1⁄4 x 36 1⁄8 in. (76.9 x 91.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.18
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Artwork Details
- Title
- School’s Out
- Artist
- Date
- 1936
- Location
- Dimensions
- 30 1⁄4 x 36 1⁄8 in. (76.9 x 91.8 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Transfer from General Services Administration
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Cityscape — street
- Figure group — female
- African American
- Architecture Exterior — education
- Architecture Exterior — domestic — apartment
- New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — Massachusetts
- Object Number
- 1971.447.18
Artwork Description
Crite thought of himself as an artist-reporter whose assignment was to capture the daily lives of ordinary people. His skill as an acute observer of American life is apparent in School's Out, which shows dozens of children leaving the annex of Everett elementary school in Boston's South End at a time when boys and girls were taught separately. Although Crite acknowledged that School's Out may reflect a romanticized view, it also presents a universal statement about community, stability, and the bonds of family life.
African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012