Subway Portrait

1938-1941

Walker Evans

Associated Names
Walker Evans

Artist, American, 1903 - 1975

The image shows two women seated next to each other, captured from the shoulders up. Both women are facing forward but slightly turned towards each other. The woman on the left has light-colored, wavy hair and wears a small, tilted hat with dots. She has a dark coat with a round pin near her collar. The woman on the right has darker, wavy hair and wears a large, flat-brimmed hat. She has a light-colored blouse or scarf under a dark coat. The background shows a blurred view through the large windows of the vehicle, with lights suggesting a night-time urban setting. The interior has metallic and wooden elements typical of public transport vehicles.
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Artwork overview


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.

2003

  • "Cruel and Tender: The Real in the Twentieth Century Photograph", Tate Modern, London; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2003-2004.

Bibliography

1966

  • Many Are Called. Boston, 1966: p. 69.

1991

  • Greenough 1991, pl. 24.

Inscriptions

lower right in graphite: 2 stops; lower center verso: Evans estate stamp with inventory number VI-68 added in graphite; by later hand, lower left verso in graphite: INV#23 / #6; by later hand, lRv//in graphite: WEv.142.Y

Wikidata ID

Q64171656

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