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Unemployed

c. 1935
20th Century
8 1/4 x 12 1/2 in. (21 x 31.8 cm)

George E. C. Wiggins, American, (1907–1982)

Object Type: PRINTS
Creation Place: North America
Medium and Support: Lithograph
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Art Angels
Accession Number: 13-G-3578
See the interpretive label written by S. Joel Garver, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, for the exhibition Teaching and Learning in the Art Museum: La Salle University Faculty Selections in the online exhibition HERE.



Label for "American Scenes: WPA-Era Prints from the 1930s and 1940s", La Salle University Art Museum, March 12- May 30, 2014:

Originally from Arkansas, Wiggins attended the Penn­sylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was awarded a prestigious Cresson scholarship for study abroad. He eventually settled in Philadelphia and worked as an il­lustrator for the
Saturday Evening Post and other publi­cations.

In this Social Realist depiction, Wiggins focuses on the subject of a union strike. The banner in the background, “Philadelphia Union Workers,” situates the scene in Philadelphia. Signs reading “To Hell with Charity” and “[Wo]rkers [De]mand Free […] Water and [Elect]ricity” suggest possible connections with the burst of union activity that took place around 1935, with numerous organized union strikes and the emergence of the Com­mittee for Industrial Organization (CIO). On the left, a fiery speaker stands next to an American flag, his ex­tended arm pointing into the center of the composition; while a mounted policeman on the far right looks in­wards over the crowd of protestors. In the foreground, a smiling woman appears to beg for money. Wearing an armband in support of the strike, she holds out a cup to a gentleman who reaches into his pocket for coins.

Klare Scarborough
Director and Chief Curator, La Salle University Art Museum
Current Location: In Storage

Exhibitions


- Teaching and Learning in the Art Museum: La Salle University Faculty Selections, La Salle University Art Museum, September 10 - December 14, 2018.
See the online exhibition HERE: http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/faculty_selections_2018/.

- American Scenes: WPA-Era Prints from the 1930s and 1940s, Curated by Klare Scarborough and Carmen Vendelin, La Salle University Art Museum, March 12- May 30, 2014.

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