Subway Portrait

1938-1941

Walker Evans

Associated Names
Walker Evans

Artist, American, 1903 - 1975

The image shows an older woman captured from the chest up. She is seated and positioned slightly to the left of the frame, facing forward. Her facial features include a pointed nose, pronounced cheekbones, and lips that appear to be pressed together. The woman wears glasses, and her hair is gray, neatly styled back, mostly obscured by her hat. She is wearing a dark hat with a large bow or decorative element on top and a coat with an elaborate fur collar. The background is out of focus and appears to be the interior of a vehicle or public space, with windows and dim lights visible.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Kent and Marcia Minichiello

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 20.3 x 14.2 cm (8 x 5 9/16 in.)
    image: 13.8 x 11.6 cm (5 7/16 x 4 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1988.56.10

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. Kent Minichiello, Washington, DC; gift to NGA, 1988.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1991

  • Walker Evans: Subway Photographs and Other Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 1991-1992.

Bibliography

1966

  • Many Are Called. Boston, 1966: pl. 15 (variant: cropped to include another woman on left).

1991

  • Greenough 1991, pl. 42.

Inscriptions

lower right in graphite: 2 1/2; upper right verso: Evans estate stamp with inventory number VI-14 added in graphite; by later hand, lower left verso in graphite: INV #10; by unkno wn hand, lRv//in graphite: IN1

Wikidata ID

Q64171609

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