Raphael Soyer
American, born Russia, 1899 - 1987Casting Office, 1945
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions9 3/4 × 12 13/16 in. (24.8 × 32.5 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1979.133
In 1912, Raphael Soyer emigrated from Russia to the Bronx. Soyer studied art from 1914 to 1923 at various institutions, including Copper Union, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League. At the encouragement of his wife and fellow artist Nicolai Cikovsky, Soyer began attending the John Reed Club and became a member in 1929. Soyer attributed his progressive world view to the John Reed Club and began teaching there in 1930. Later he worked in the graphic arts division of the WPA and also taught at the Art Students League, the American Artists School, the New School for Social Research, and the National Academy of Design.
While millions of Americans lost their jobs during the Great Depression the number of employed women rose. Prior to WWII the jobs available to women, gender specific occupations, or “women’s work” were in industries that felt the impact of the stock market crash less than those industries dominated by men. Women had to fight for fair compensation as the standard pay rate was set lower and those employed in the textile industry had to endured long hours of constant labor as well as inadequate compensation. Women fortunate enough to be employed by the WPA were confined to nursing or sewing rooms, which paid less than the roles available to men. Only one family member could receive work relief through the WPA. As it was typically reserved for the bread winner of the family, married women were often denied or discouraged from applying.
During the Great Depression, Soyer depicted scenes of working people, derelicts, and the unemployed in New York. By 1940, Soyer began to focus on the female figure, portraying women in the workplace, dancers and dressmakers in particular. Even with more than 10 million women in the workforce in the 1930s, artists more commonly showed scenes of male labor. Images of female labor by male artists were typically scenes from the burlesque, portraying women as objects of desire. In contrast, Soyer does not objectify female labor but rather creates a sympathetic image showing two women in the casting office, waiting for their opportunity to audition or see if they have been awarded any work.
