Laborer (Stevedore Longshoreman, Norfolk, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia

Robert McNeill, Laborer (Stevedore Longshoreman, Norfolk, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1938, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.10, © 1938, Robert McNeill
Robert McNeill, Laborer (Stevedore Longshoreman, Norfolk, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1938, gelatin silver print, sheet: 10 x 8 1⁄8 in. (25.4 x 20.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.10, © 1938, Robert McNeill

Artwork Details

Title
Laborer (Stevedore Longshoreman, Norfolk, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia
Artist
Date
1938
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 10 x 8 1⁄8 in. (25.4 x 20.6 cm.)
Copyright
© 1938, Robert McNeill
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure male — elderly
  • Landscape — Virginia — Norfolk
  • Occupation — industry — shipping
  • African American
Object Number
1993.72.10
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.72.10

Artwork Description

Cropped to focus on a single dockworker, Laborer (Stevedore Longshoreman, Norfolk, Virginia) shows not the labor but the waiting, which sometimes lasted for days because the men were not permitted on the pier until called to work. It is an image of both dignity and resignation. “The look says, ‘what the hell are you doing photographing me,’” remarked McNeill, “and I think it says a lot more.”


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Works by this artist (7 items)

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Cecilia Beaux, Georges Clemenceau, 1920, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the National Art Committee, 1923.6.5
Georges Clemenceau
Artist
Date1920
oil on canvas
On view
Cecilia Beaux, Man with the Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker), 1898, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design, 1952.10.1
Man with the Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker)
Artist
Date1898
oil on canvas
On view
Cecilia Beaux, Admiral Sir David Beatty, Lord Beatty, ca. 1920, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the National Art Committee, 1923.6.4
Admiral Sir David Beatty, Lord Beatty
Artist
Dateca. 1920
oil on canvas
Not on view
Cecilia Beaux, Henry Wolf, Reverie, 1894, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.98
Reverie
Artist
Date1894
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view