Skip to main content

Search

Donate

Home Smithsonian Institution

Site Navigation

  • Visit
    • Hours and Admission
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Tips and Guidelines
    • Accessibility
  • What's On
    • Exhibitions
      • Current Exhibitions
      • Upcoming
      • Past Exhibitions
      • Online Exhibitions
    • Today's Events
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX Theaters
  • Explore
    • Art & Design
    • History & Culture
    • Science & Nature
    • Collections
      • Open Access
      • Smithsonian Snapshot
    • Blogs
    • Podcasts
    • Mobile Apps
    • Research Resources
      • Libraries
      • Archives
        • Smithsonian Institution Archives
        • Air and Space Museum
        • Anacostia Community Museum
        • American Art Museum
        • Archives of American Art
        • Archives of American Gardens
        • American History Museum
        • American Indian Museum
        • Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
        • Freer and Sackler Archives
        • Hirshhorn Archive
        • National Anthropological Archives
        • National Portrait Gallery
        • Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
        • Libraries' Special Collections
  • Learn
    • For Kids and Teens
    • For Educators
      • Resources
      • Field Trips
      • Professional Development
      • Events
    • Youth Programs
    • Fellowships and Internships
  • Join Us
    • Volunteer
      • Behind-the-Scenes
      • Digital Volunteers
      • Smithsonian Call Center
      • Visitor Information Specialist
      • Docent Programs
    • Citizen Science
    • Work with Us
      • Office of Human Resources
        • Working Here
        • Employee Benefits
        • Job Opportunities
        • How to Apply
        • Job Seekers with Disabilities
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • SI Civil Program
        • Contact Us
      • Affiliations
      • Global Partners
  • Support
    • About Membership
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Your Membership
    • Make a Gift
  • About
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Research Centers
    • Cultural Centers
    • Education
    • Our Organization
      • Leadership
        • Secretary Bunch
        • Administration
        • Advancement
        • Communications
        • Education
        • Museums and Culture
        • Science and Research
      • Board of Regents
        • Members
        • Committees
        • Reading Room
        • Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
        • Contact
        • Schedules and Agendas
        • Meeting Minutes
        • Actions
        • Webcasts
      • General Counsel
        • Legal History
        • Internships
        • Records Requests
          • Records Request Reading Room
        • Tort Claim
        • Subpoenas & Testimonies
        • Events
      • Equal Employment Office
        • EEO Complaint Process
        • Individuals with Disabilities
        • Special Emphasis Program
        • Supplier Diversity Program
          • Doing Business with Us
          • Policies and Procedures
          • Additional Resources
          • Goals and Accomplishments
    • Reports and Plans
      • Annual Reports
      • Metrics Dashboard
        • Dashboard Home
        • Virtual Smithsonian
        • Public Engagement
        • National Collections
        • Research
        • People & Operations
        • One Smithsonian
      • Strategic Plan
    • Newsdesk
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • Photos and Video
      • Media Kits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Visitor Stats
      • Secretary and Admin Bios
      • Filming Requests

Tribute to the American Working People

Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

Addthis Share Tools

    • Print

Object Details

Artist
Honoré Sharrer, born West Point, NY 1920-died Washington, DC 2009
Exhibition Label
For Tribute to the American Working People, Sharrer, who was employed as a shipyard welder during World War II, employed the polyptych format of medieval Italian religious paintings in which a central panel features a saint and smaller flanking panels depict events in his life. Here the “saint” is recreated as a series of factory workers. The side panels---showing a county fair, a schoolroom, a barnyard scene, and the parlor of a modest home---are drawn from the fabric of American life. The people---whether wearing hair curlers or dancing a jog---are shown simply in the act of living, revealing Sharrer’s hope “to express a sense of humanity.”
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014
Luce Center Label
Honoré Sharrer's Tribute questions the future of working people in post--World War II America. The five-panel composition recalls medieval altarpieces, which often show an image of a saint surrounded by illustrations of his or her life. Here, the "saint" is a typical working man, who stands in front of a nineteenth-century factory with the faces of his workmates peering through arched windows behind. The framed design repeats this pattern of windows, as if we are looking from one factory building to another. In the 1930s, Americans celebrated working people to boost morale and speed the country's recovery from the Depression. But during World War II, labor activism fell by the wayside, and Sharrer painted this image in 1951 to record what she saw as the workers' "final bow." (Doss, "Sharrer's Tribute to the American Working People," American Art, Fall 2002) The four smaller images---Country Fair, In the Parlor, Farm Scene, and Public School---show different moments in everyday life. In one sense, these episodes capture the spirit of play and the human comfort of community. But Sharrer's workers and children stand and look out at the viewer, as if some cold reality had brought them up short and they are uncertain of what to do next.
Luce Object Quote
"In this picture I painted ordinary people . . . it is these distinguished-undistinguished players that moved and interested me." Artist's statement, 1979
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
1951
Object number
1986.6.97
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on composition board
Dimensions
overall: 38 3/4 x 77 1/4 in. (98.5 x 196.2 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Figure group
Occupation\industry
Occupation\farm\harvesting
Recreation\leisure\conversation
Architecture Interior\education
Record ID
saam_1986.6.97
Metadata Usage (text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk791270e85-49c6-4e92-996a-416b64311a9e

Related Content

  • American Women Artists

  • Labor Day

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Footer logo

Link to homepage

Footer navigation

  • Smithsonian 175
  • Contact Us
  • Press Room
  • Human Resources
  • Host Your Event
  • Access Smithsonian
  • EEO & Supplier Diversity
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Social media links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Email signup form

Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)
Back to Top