Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Flag, Boat, and Soldiers

Alex Katz, Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Flag, Boat, and Soldiers, 1961, assembled, nailed, bolted, and screwed plywood painted in oil, 79 ¹⁄₄ x 103 ¹⁄₂ x 18 ¹⁄₂ in. (201.4 x 262.9 x 47.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection, 1979.56.2A

Artwork Details

Title: Washington Crossing the Delaware: American Flag, Boat, and Soldiers
Artist: Alex Katz
Date: 1961
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 79 ¹⁄₄ x 103 ¹⁄₂ x 18 ¹⁄₂ in. (201.4 x 262.9 x 47.0 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
Mediums: plywood
Mediums Description: assembled, nailed, bolted, and screwed plywood painted in oil
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Object — other — flag
Waterscape — river — Delaware River
Figure group — male
Architecture — boat
History — United States — Revolution
Dress — uniform — military uniform
Occupation — military — soldier
Object Number: 1979.56.2A
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1979.56.2A

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.'"