Sunlight and Shadow

Allan Rohan Crite, Sunlight and Shadow, 1941, oil on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.45
Copied Allan Rohan Crite, Sunlight and Shadow, 1941, oil on board, 25 1⁄4 x 39 in. (64.2 x 99.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.45

Artwork Details

Title
Sunlight and Shadow
Artist
Date
1941
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
25 1⁄4 x 39 in. (64.2 x 99.1 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on board
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — park
  • Figure group — female
  • African American
  • Landscape — phenomenon — light
  • Architecture — vehicle — bicycle
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — apartment
Object Number
1977.45
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.45

Artwork Description

Allan Rohan Crite, a self-described artist-reporter, chronicled the seemingly insignificant moments of daily life in his Boston community throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. His paintings of playing children, church-going families, and friendly neighbors offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary African Americans. In Sunlight and Shadow, three generations of neighbors gather in Madison Park in Boston's South End to spend a pleasant afternoon beneath the shady trees.