Resting

Claude Clark, Resting, 1944, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.57.32
Copied Claude Clark, Resting, 1944, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.57.32

Artwork Details

Title
Resting
Artist
Date
1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Dress — accessory — hat
  • State of being — mood — weariness
  • Landscape
  • African American
  • Figure male — full length
Object Number
1967.57.32
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.57.32

Artwork Description

The title, Resting, coupled with the man's bare feet and everyday clothes, suggest that he is taking a momentary break from farm work. Although his eyes are hidden by a red hat, his face is attentive as he regards the unseen viewer. The palette of ochres, blues, reds, and greens and the loose shapes of his body and the landscape behind him are liberally laid down with a palette knife. Although Clark was born in Georgia, where his father worked as a tenant farmer, his family was part of the great migration of African Americans who moved from rural southern towns to the urban North in the 1920s.

African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012