Homage to Audrey McMahon (Goddess of Fertility)

Eugenie Gershoy, Homage to Audrey McMahon (Goddess of Fertility), 1977, papier-mache on wire armature with cut out paper and painted with egg tempera on wood base, 25 ³⁄₄ x 13 ⁷⁄₈ x 9 ⁷⁄₈ in. (65.4 x 35.3 x 25.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1984.76

Artwork Details

Title: Homage to Audrey McMahon (Goddess of Fertility)
Artist: Eugenie Gershoy
Date: 1977
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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4th Floor
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47B
Dimensions: 25 ³⁄₄ x 13 ⁷⁄₈ x 9 ⁷⁄₈ in. (65.4 x 35.3 x 25.1 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of the artist
Mediums: papier-mache
tempera
wire
wood
Mediums Description: papier-mache on wire armature with cut out paper and painted with egg tempera on wood base
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Mythology — other — goddess
Figure female — full length
Object Number: 1984.76
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1984.76

Artwork Description

Audrey McMahon was actively involved in the creation of the Federal Art Project, and served as its regional director in New York. Established during the Depression, the FAP was a New Deal program that created employment for artists and teachers and, as McMahon said, made art “a reality in the public’s daily experience.” During the first few years of its operation, the four main creative divisions of the project (murals, sculpture, easel painting, and graphic art) produced more than fifty thousand works of art in New York City. Eugenie Gershoy created this sculpture, Goddess of Fertility, to symbolize McMahon’s instrumental role in providing work for artists during the 1930s.