Realist painter and printmaker Will Barnet began his career in the early 20th century recording scenes of urban poverty and the plight of the downtrodden. He later became known for his elegantly stylized depictions of women and children, often members of his own family. Bridging the personal with the universal, he relied on a highly distilled form of realism to express his poetic, visionary symbolism. This color screenprint exemplifies Barnet’s late graphic style with its austere refinement and a pictorial aesthetic derived from Japanese printmaking and painting. One of two color variants, the print is based on a painting Barnet made of the same subject.
