Cropper's Return

In a small, virtually unfurnished shack three people receive the titular sharecropper—two women and an elderly man, perhaps his father. Raboy’s possible allusion to the Prodigal Son’s return, however, is a sad moment: highlighted at the center of Raboy’s wood engraving is an empty hand. Whether this moment captures the end of a day’s work or some longer migration isn’t clear. The two women look out the door because there’s not food on the table or a fire in the stove; they gaze into a dark future. Surely this would have resonated with Americans in 1935. Despite no visible lighting source, the print is illuminated with high-key drama—a style characteristic of the artist’s other FAP works and successfully translated into a later career in comics. There also may be an autobiographical dimension to this print since the artist’s immigrant father, Ayzik (Isaac) Raboy, worked in agriculture for several years and wrote about his North Dakota experiences in Yiddish novels and short stories. “Cropper’s Return” was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art and singled out at a National Academy of Art show by the New York Times critic, who placed it “at the head of the list” (27 Mar. 1938: 142).

About the Artist:

Raboy is one of the better-known Federal Art Project lithographers among collectors, albeit for his subsequent work in comics, where some original drawings sell for hundreds of thousands at auction. He was born in New York City to Sarah and Ayzik (Isaac) Raboy, the latter a well-regarded Yiddish novelist who explored the contradictions of immigrant culture in works like The Jewish Cowboy (Der yidisher kauboy, 1942). Mac Raboy was a precocious artist who studied at the New York School of Industrial Arts and The Pratt Institute Art School; he marked his twentieth birthday submerged in the Great Depression. Between 1935 and 1939, Raboy created more than a dozen prints for the Federal Art Project. His high-contrast wood engravings, dramatically composed subjects, expressive bodies, and social concerns already were cohering into a distinctive style. His works were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. In 1940 Raboy began working as an illustrator for Fawcett Publications, specifically its comics division. His big break came in 1941 with a spin-off series called Captain Marvel Jr., whose disabled newsboy protagonist can transform into an heroic version of himself—not entirely different in outward appearance. Raboy became known for fine detail and dynamic, almost gravity-defying composition. With the outbreak of WWII, his series—along with work on other titles like Bulletman and Green Lama—joined the Allied Forces with strong anti-Nazi storylines. One especially interesting work during this period was a true-life story for Look Magazine in 1943. “One of Our Bombers is Missing” recounts an American B-17 bomber crew that is forced to crash-land in the Atlantic, still calling upon Raboy's FAP knack for human drama and told in sequential panels. In 1948 Raboy achieved what he considered his dream job: illustrating the (color) Sunday newspaper series of Flash Gordon, which he continued until his death in 1967. Four works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. Four works at the Art Institute of Chicago. Two works at The Gallery at Penn College. Three works at Syracuse University Art Museum. Three images at FAP. 142 comics covers at Grand Comics Database. Mac Raboy Fan Group (facebook).