Marketing
Datec. 1943
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 20 5/8 × 26 5/16 inches (52.4 × 66.8 cm)
Framed: 28 1/8 × 34 1/4 × 1 1/2 inches (71.4 × 87 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase.
Object number1944.5
Copyright© 2023 Estate of Robert Gwathmey / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextAlthough he passed most of his professional career in New York City, Robert Gwathmey’s best-known images are drawn from the social landscape of the rural South. His paintings from the late 1930s and 1940s illustrate his concerns regarding the plight of poor farmers, particularly African American sharecroppers. In an effort to better understand his subjects, Gwathmey spent time working alongside North Carolina sharecroppers in 1944. Like contemporaries Jacob Lawrence and Ben Shahn, Gwathmey painted in an abstracted figurative style utilizing flat areas of color with minimal shading, as in Marketing.
