Washington Crossing the Delaware: British Soldier

Alex Katz, Washington Crossing the Delaware: British Soldier, 1961, acrylic on plywood, 66 ¹⁄₄ x 24 ¹⁄₄ x 6 ¹⁄₂ in. (168.3 x 61.6 x 16.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection, 1980.137.75A

Artwork Details

Title: Washington Crossing the Delaware: British Soldier
Artist: Alex Katz
Date: 1961
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 66 ¹⁄₄ x 24 ¹⁄₄ x 6 ¹⁄₂ in. (168.3 x 61.6 x 16.5 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
Mediums: plywood
acrylic
Mediums Description: acrylic on plywood
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Waterscape — river — Delaware River
History — United States — Revolution
Dress — uniform — military uniform
Occupation — military — soldier
Figure male
Object Number: 1980.137.75A
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.137.75A

Artwork Description

In 1959, Alex Katz began painting figures on canvas, cutting them out and then pasting them onto wooden boards. Two years later the playwright Kenneth Koch saw an exhibition of these and asked Katz to produce the props and sets for his one-act play George Washington Crossing the Delaware. In Koch's satire, Washington’s famous crossing was motivated by his childhood when, after cutting down the cherry tree, the young Washington swam across a river to avoid his father's wrath. The play became an underground hit largely because of Katz's irreverent image of Washington. At the time, art critic Irving Sandler described the cutouts as "the perfect setting for the delivery of such lines as the following from the father of our country: 'I am tired and I need sleep. Good night America.'"