Untitled (Woman on a Bench), from the project The Negro in Virginia

Robert McNeill, Untitled (Woman on a Bench), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1930s, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.8, © 1938, Robert McNeill
Robert McNeill, Untitled (Woman on a Bench), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1930s, gelatin silver print, sheet: 8 1810 in. (20.625.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.8, © 1938, Robert McNeill

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Woman on a Bench), from the project The Negro in Virginia
Date
1930s
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 8 1810 in. (20.625.4 cm.)
Copyright
© 1938, Robert McNeill
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • African American
  • Figure female — elderly
  • Architecture — detail — porch
Object Number
1993.72.8

Artwork Description

In 1938, twenty-year-old Robert McNeill was hired to take photographs for The Negro in Virginia, one of more than a dozen black-oriented history projects launched by the New Deal Federal Writer’s Project in the late 1930s. With a three-and-a-half week deadline and a small amount of film, McNeill had to choose his shots carefully. It was a challenging assignment through which he sought to dispel myths about slavery and focus attention on the contemporary lives of black Virginians.


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

Works by this artist (9 items)

Edward Hopper, Ryder's House, 1933, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design, 1981.76
Ryder’s House
Date1933
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, People in the Sun, 1960, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.61
People in the Sun
Date1960
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92
Cape Cod Morning
Date1950
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, (Standing Nude), n.d., charcoal on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Exchange with the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1972.16
(Standing Nude)
Daten.d.
charcoal on paper
Not on view