Sorrow

Copied Carl L. Schmitz, Sorrow, before 1940, terra cotta, 17 1222 3413 78 in. (44.557.935.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of International Business Machines Corporation, 1966.27.6

Artwork Details

Title
Sorrow
Date
before 1940
Dimensions
17 1222 3413 78 in. (44.557.935.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
Mediums
Mediums Description
terra cotta
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group — female
  • State of being — emotion — sorrow
Object Number
1966.27.6

Artwork Description

Carl L. Schmitz probably modeled the small sculpture Sorrow in the late 1930s. During the Depression, many sculptors found it difficult to get work and so turned to cheaper materials, like terra-cotta, which they could fire in their own small kilns. The outbreak of World War II brought pressure to bear upon Schmitz, a German-born American citizen, and Sorrow may have been his response to the emotional effects of war.