A Quarter of Nine, Saturday's Children

Artist Martin Lewis (American, born Australia, 1881–1962)

Date1929

MediumDrypoint

DimensionsImage: 9 13/16 x 12 3/4 inches (24.9 x 32.4 cm);
Sheet: 13 3/4 × 18 1/4 inches (34.9 × 46.4 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineBequest of William P. Chapman, Jr., Class of 1895

Terms

Drypoint
Automobiles
Lighting devices
Manhattan, New York
Morning
Pedestrians
Sidewalks
Storefronts
Streetcars
Streetscapes
Times of the day
Towers
Urban views

Object number56.423

Label CopyKnown as a chronicler of city life, Martin Lewis created images of the street and its inhabitants imbued with intense life and drama. Here he shows a march of men and women down 34th Street in the morning. Lewis emphasizes outward movement by unrealistically curving the street downward. As one looks further down the sidewalk, the perspective of the viewer looks up at the people rather than eye to eye, so they appear to be moving faster as they walk down the ramped sidewalk. Lewis also uses dynamic lighting to increase the forward-leaning feeling of the print. The shadows of the people all appear at least twice the size of the figures they represent and come toward us. Overall, Lewis imbues his image of a Saturday morning with incredible energy and motion, mimicking the lives he was witnessing in a greatly changing New York.

("Imprint/ In Print," curated by Nancy E. Green with assistance from Christian Waibel '17 and presented at the Johnson Museum August 8 - December 20, 2015)

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