Stevedore
1940
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
image: 362 x 241 mm paper: 397 x 273 mm
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams
Accession Number
2008.115.1058
Art Historical Context
Created in 1940, Harry Brodsky’s lithograph “Stevedore” depicts a dockworker engaged in the physically demanding labor of loading or unloading ships. The medium of lithography, prized in the early twentieth century for its capacity to produce rich tonal gradations and fine detail on a relatively affordable scale, enables Brodsky to render the figure’s muscular form and concentrated expression with striking immediacy. Measuring roughly 14 by 9½ inches on the stone, the image balances bold contrasts with subtle modeling, inviting close inspection of both the worker’s strength and the textures of...