SAL record control number: 134685 ;

Record level: Item ;

Record type: Movable work ;

Work title: The builders  [from collection database] ;

Alternate work titles:
2022 : The builders  [from collection database] ;

Work date: 1932  [from collection database] ;

Work creator: James Edmund Allen (1894-1964) [RA 1927-1964] ;

Work medium: Ink on paper ; etching ;
Work dimensions: 9-3/4 x 11-5/8 inches [unframed] | 16-7/8 x 18-3/4 x 7/8 inches [framed] ;

Inscribed / signed front:
Location: At lower left.
Dated?: Yes.
Text: ‘Ed. 100 Presented to Salmagundi Club Nov 9 1938 James E Allen’ and ‘1936 James E Allen’.

Verso:

Marking type: Label.
Location: Verso.
Text: ‘The Builders, 1938’.

SAL category: Works on paper ; etching ;
SAL sub-category: Print ;

Archives of American Art subjects:
Architecture
Architecture exterior
Architecture exterior — Commercial
Art
Art — American
Art ― Private collections ― New York (State)
Art ― Private collections ― New York (State) ― Salmagundi
Cityscape
Figure
Figure group
Occupation
Occupation — Builder
Occupation — Construction worker

Description of work:

Provenance:
1938 SCNY, presented by Allen to the club, accession #2006.418 ;
1932 James Edmund Allen (1894-1964) [RA 1927-1964], the artist .

Exhibition history:
2022 SCNY Dark and light : depression era works September 1 – December 31.
2010 SCNY Black and white through the years 1871 – present January 25 -February 22.

References / citations:
– Ryan 62
– Illustrated: 1932 cover, Herald Tribune Magazine, 9/3/33; cover
– Sunday Review, Brooklyn Eagle, 3/25/34
– Albert Reese, American Prize Prints of the Twentieth Century, 1949;
– Fine Prints of the Year, 1933.
– James E. Allen; Exhibition catalog, Mary Ryan Gallery, 452 Columbus Avenue, NYC 10024. (1984) illustrated #62

Notes:
– Awarded the Henry B. Shope prize for best composition in the Society of American Etchers show, 1932; and the Shaw Prize at the Salmagundi Club in New York. A brilliant impression of this dramatic image.
– Allen commented on this work: “The Builders, was done at a time when, being deeply interested in organization, I tried to express the dramatic force and grandeur of this triangular group, with its relative movements, and its angular environment. I tried to use natural forms with as little distortion as possible, and in doing so, to stay in the bounds of tradition.” [Reese, 1949, p3]
– Another example listed in Ernest S. Kramer “Millennium Edition” catalog ($5,000)
– Another example at Allinson Gallery, Inc : Price: $7,000 June 17, 2008, Examples also in: Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY, New York Public Library

Document information

Document permalink:
http://salmagundi.org/artwork/?p=134685

Digital-born document number:
SAL.2022.134685

Record birth date:
August 31, 2022

Last updated: July 12, 2023 at 12:47 pm