Braceros

Domingo Ulloa, Braceros, 1960, oil on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo, 2014.20
Copied Domingo Ulloa, Braceros, 1960, oil on masonite, 36 × 49 in. (91.4 × 124.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo, 2014.20

Artwork Details

Title
Braceros
Artist
Date
1960
Location
Dimensions
36 × 49 in. (91.4 × 124.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo
Mediums Description
oil on masonite
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Figure group — male
  • Mexican
  • Occupation — labor
  • Dress — accessory — hat
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — fence
Object Number
2014.20
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2014.20

Artwork Description

Domingo Ulloa's crowd of seasonal laborers, who peer dejectedly through a barbed-wire fence, reinforced mounting public protest against their poor living and working conditions in the 1960s.
The artist painted this canvas after several visits to a bracero camp in Holtville, California. The Bracero Program (1942--64) was a binational effort that brought Mexican guest workers, known as braceros, to fill in agricultural labor shortages caused by World War II.
The painting's composition recalls photographs of concentration camp inmates, with which Ulloa--a World War II veteran--was familiar. Ulloa later stated, "Most of my paintings are inspired by the common people in their work, in their joy, and their struggle."