Back of the Yards

Mitchell Siporin, Back of the Yards, ca. 1937, pencil on paper, sheet: 20 ⁵⁄₈ x 23 ³⁄₄ in. (52.4 x 60.3 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.80

Artwork Details

Title: Back of the Yards
Artist: Mitchell Siporin
Date: ca. 1937
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 20 ⁵⁄₈ x 23 ³⁄₄ in. (52.4 x 60.3 cm) irregular
Credit Line: Transfer from General Services Administration
Mediums: pencil
Mediums Description: pencil on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — Illinois
Polish
Architecture Exterior — industry — storage tank
Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
Figure group
Object Number: 1971.447.80
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1971.447.80

Artwork Description

The yards in this title refer to the Union Stock Yards near a residential neighborhood in Chicago. Siporin’s father was a union organizer, and the artist was especially sensitive to the plight of the homeless and dispossessed during the Great Depression. The mother, father, and child form a compositional unit in the center, while the man in a trench coat is a menacing figure. In the painting based on this drawing, the artist eliminated the man in the coat, focusing the viewer’s attention on the family.

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