The Shower
1918
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Hyde Gillette in memory of Mabel Hyde Gillette and Edwin Fraser Gillette
Accession Number
1992.13.120
Tags
Art Historical Context
Helen Hyde’s 1918 print “The Shower” captures a quiet moment of everyday life in South Carolina. Rendered as a graphic arts print, the work shows a small group of African American figures gathered beneath an umbrella beside a tree as rain falls. The composition emphasizes both the sheltering forms of the umbrella and foliage and the shared experience of the figures, inviting viewers to consider community and resilience amid simple weather. Created during the final year of World War I, the print reflects early-twentieth-century American interest in regional scenes and diverse subjects. Hyde, k...
About the Artist
Helen Hyde · 1868–1919
Helen Hyde (1868–1919) was born in Lima, New York, and spent much of her childhood in California, where her family had relocated. She began her formal artistic training at the San Francisco School of Design and continued at the Art Students League in New York from 1888 to 1889. In 1890 she traveled to Europe, spending time in Berlin and subsequently in Paris from 1891 to 1894, where she became cap...