The Waitress

Isaac Soyer, The Waitress, ca. 1934-1939, pencil on paper, sheet: 18 ³⁄₄ x 17 in. (47.5 x 43.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Evander Childs High School, Bronx, New York through the General Services Administration, 1975.83.111

Artwork Details

Title: The Waitress
Artist: Isaac Soyer
Date: ca. 1934-1939
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 18 ³⁄₄ x 17 in. (47.5 x 43.1 cm)
Credit Line: Transfer from the Evander Childs High School, Bronx, New York through the General Services Administration
Mediums: pencil
Mediums Description: pencil on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: Architecture Interior — commercial — restaurant
Occupation — service — waiter
Figure group
Object Number: 1975.83.111
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1975.83.111

Artwork Description

“The artist discovers beauty and meaning in whatever environment he is cast by chance,” Soyer wrote in 1947. For him, the place was New York City, where he drew scenes of everyday life. In The Waitress, Soyer captures a waitress cleaning the table of a man dining alone. Around them customers bustle and converse and dishes clank, but the artist isolates the two figures from their surroundings. They are engrossed in private thoughts despite their physical proximity.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009