Braceros

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: Domingo Ulloa
Date: 1960
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
1st Floor
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South Wing
Dimensions: 36 × 49 in. (91.4 × 124.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo
Mediums Description: oil on masonite
Classifications: Painting
Highlights: Latinx Art
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 painted this canvas after several visits to a Bracero camp in Holtville, California. The Bracero Program (1942-64) was a bi-national effort that brought Mexican guest workers, known as braceros, to fill in agricultural labor shortages caused by World War II. Ulloa's crowd of workers, who peer dejectedly through a barbed-wire fence, reinforce the mounting public protest against their poor living and working conditions. His composition recalls photographs of concentration camp inmates, which Ulloa--a World War II veteran--was familiar with. Ulloa later stated, "Most of my paintings are inspired by the common people in their work, in their joy, and their struggle."