Basil Hawkins
American, 1903 - 19824:00 A.M. Shift, n.d.
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions9 1/8 × 12 3/4 in. (23.2 × 32.4 cm)
Image: 7 1/2 × 11 in. (19.1 × 27.9 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1979.280
In 4:00 A.M. Shift, Hawkins depicts a somber, predawn street scene as workers gather outside a factory entrance. Hawkins’ image conveys a sense of the daily rituals associated with working class life, emphasizing in its shadowed streets, smoke filled sky, and raw lighting, a gritty realism distinct from the celebratory images of industry that characterize other artists’ work of this era.
