La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)

Antonio Martorell, La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I), 2010, woodcut on Japanese paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.59.1, © 2010, Antonio Martorell
Antonio Martorell, La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I), 2010, woodcut on Japanese paper, sheet and image: 5947 in. (149.9119.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.59.1, © 2010, Antonio Martorell

Artwork Details

Title
La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)
Date
2010
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 5947 in. (149.9119.4 cm)
Copyright
© 2010, Antonio Martorell
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
woodcut on Japanese paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Latinx
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Architecture — bridge
  • Figure group — female
  • Puerto Rican
  • Object — other — sewing tool
Object Number
2012.59.1

Artwork Description

Puerto Ricans who migrated to the continental United States during the early to mid-twentieth century called the rooftops of tenement buildings “tar beaches.” Martorell’s print was inspired by his study of rooftop snapshots that migrants mailed back to relatives on the island. Here a fashionable woman wears a fur-collared coat and sits in front of a New York City skyline. Her hardworking double on the left sits behind a sewing machine. In his Playa Negra (Tar Beach) series, Martorell juxtaposed migrants’ prosperous self-image with a glimpse of their tiring labor.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

Description in Spanish

Los puertorriqueños que emigraron al territorio continental de los Estados Unidos alrededor de la Segunda Guerra Mundial llamaban a los techos de los edificios de apartamentos playas negras”. La inspiración para el grabado de Martorell surgió de su examen de las fotografías de las azoteas que los inmigrantes enviaban a sus familiares en la isla. En este grabado, una elegante mujer lleva un abrigo con cuello de piel y está sentada frente a una vista de la ciudad de Nueva York. Su doble, una mujer trabajadora, está sentada à la izquierda frente a una máquina de coser. En su serie Playa Negra (Tar Beach), Martorell contrasta la autoimagen próspera de los emigrantes con un reflejo de su arduo trabajo.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Works by this artist (316 items)

Howard Cook, Hill Town, 1931, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Barbara Latham Cook, 1986.10.3
Hill Town
Date1931
etching on paper
Not on view
Howard Cook, Seabird, 1926, woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Barbara Latham, 1980.122.125
Seabird
Date1926
woodcut on paper
Not on view
Howard Cook, Walpi, 1927, woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Barbara Latham, 1980.122.64
Walpi
Date1927
woodcut on paper
Not on view

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      • Our America Audio Podcast - Antonio Martorell, "La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)" (English) Our America Audio Podcast - Antonio Martorell, "La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)" (English)
      • Audio podcast, Nuestra America - Antonio Martorell, "La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)" (espanol) Audio podcast, Nuestra America - Antonio Martorell, "La Playa Negra I (Tar Beach I)" (espanol)

      Related Books

      OurAmerica_500.jpg
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture. This beautifully illustrated volume presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge. Our America includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including abstract expressionism; activist, conceptual, and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture, and scenes of everyday life. 

      Exhibitions

      Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
      October 25, 2013March 2, 2014
      Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.

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