Breadwinner (War)
John Wilson
1942
- Medium
- Lithographic crayon, with scraping and smudging, on cream wove paper
- Dimensions
- 64 × 48.3 cm (25 1/4 × 19 1/16 in.)
- Genre
- lithographic crayon
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
buildingsdrawings (visual works)African Americanlaborwarmenprints and drawinglithographic crayonnewspaperstreescitiespaper (fiber product)work
About
The drawing Breadwinner depicts an African American worker relaxing on a park bench during his break. The man wears a hat typical of a factory laborer. In spite of his ordinary appearance, the man’s posture is strong and relaxed, and he wears a sport coat over his work clothes—a symbol of pride for men during the Depression. On his lap is a newspaper with the discernable headline “WAR.” John Wilson made this drawing in 1942, probably soon after the United States declared war on the Axis powers.
