Dublin Core
Title
Description
A group of men works together, repairing at least two nets used to catch fish. All the men in this painting are either bent over or facing away from the viewer. Very little individual detail is shown. It seems that the fishermen are in a rural area—although given Emerson’s life experiences, that might be coastal Massachusetts; Normandy, France; or Long Island, NY. There is only one building in sight, which looks to be a work shed most likely where the nets are stored. The men are all in a similar type of clothing; nothing in their body language tells us whether they are happy or upset at what they’re doing. It’s what must be done, a boring task but one that allows them to survive. It may be the only thing that allows them to do so. Emerson opens up a lot of space to be shown in this painting, displaying the isolation many rural Americans felt and how far away they were physically from receiving any immediate help. Only a telephone or telegraph line, strung along unmilled tree trunks, hints at any connection beyond their locale. The stark topography and Emerson’s narrow range of browns and green implies that they have no one else to rely upon but themselves.
About the Artist
Sybil Davis Emerson was a painter, sculptor, muralist, fabric artist, and teacher, born in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 4th, 1892. In 1910 she graduated from Ohio State University and later she studied at the Art Students League in New York and Academie Falguière. For a time she lived in California, where she was working as a teacher at Lowell High School and an artist. She exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association in 1924, winning 1st place. Meanwhile, she developed project ideas for art teachers (1, 2, 3) while contributing political cartoons to the socialist monthly New Justice. In the 1930s Emerson moved to New York where she exhibited at the Midtown Galleries and the Morton Gallery. It was during this time that she wrote and illustrated the children’s books Jaques at the Window (1936) and Pigeon House Inn (1939), drawing upon her summers spent in Normandy as a child and murals that she later created in classrooms there. In 1942 Emerson was hired by the Pennsylvania State College (today, a university) as a professor of art education and home economics. As a woman artist, she grappled with the contradictions implied by that job title and recognized that amidst reconstruction after WWII “there is grave danger of overemphasis of the mechanical aspects of education and a need for greater consideration of the spiritual development of our young people” (“Problems”). Emerson went on to write and illustrate a well-regarded textbook titled Design: A Creative Approach (1953). Emerson later moved back to California where she taught summer courses at the University of Southern California and at the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California. Throughout her life she exhibited at numerous galleries and museums in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albany, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. Emerson would later retire to McMinnville, Oregon in 1959 where she spent the remainder of her days until her death on September 15, 1980. 4 works at Palmer Museum of Art. 15 images at FAP.
Works Consulted: “Sybil Davis Emerson,” Traditional Fine Arts Organization Link; Sybil Emerson, short autobiography in Bertha E. Mahoney, et al., Illustrators of Children’s Books, 1744-1945 (1947): 306 Link; Sybil Emerson, “Problems in Teaching Art” (Journal of Home Economics Dec. 1945: 615-617) Link
About the Artist
Sybil Davis Emerson was a painter, sculptor, muralist, fabric artist, and teacher, born in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 4th, 1892. In 1910 she graduated from Ohio State University and later she studied at the Art Students League in New York and Academie Falguière. For a time she lived in California, where she was working as a teacher at Lowell High School and an artist. She exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association in 1924, winning 1st place. Meanwhile, she developed project ideas for art teachers (1, 2, 3) while contributing political cartoons to the socialist monthly New Justice. In the 1930s Emerson moved to New York where she exhibited at the Midtown Galleries and the Morton Gallery. It was during this time that she wrote and illustrated the children’s books Jaques at the Window (1936) and Pigeon House Inn (1939), drawing upon her summers spent in Normandy as a child and murals that she later created in classrooms there. In 1942 Emerson was hired by the Pennsylvania State College (today, a university) as a professor of art education and home economics. As a woman artist, she grappled with the contradictions implied by that job title and recognized that amidst reconstruction after WWII “there is grave danger of overemphasis of the mechanical aspects of education and a need for greater consideration of the spiritual development of our young people” (“Problems”). Emerson went on to write and illustrate a well-regarded textbook titled Design: A Creative Approach (1953). Emerson later moved back to California where she taught summer courses at the University of Southern California and at the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California. Throughout her life she exhibited at numerous galleries and museums in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albany, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. Emerson would later retire to McMinnville, Oregon in 1959 where she spent the remainder of her days until her death on September 15, 1980. 4 works at Palmer Museum of Art. 15 images at FAP.
Works Consulted: “Sybil Davis Emerson,” Traditional Fine Arts Organization Link; Sybil Emerson, short autobiography in Bertha E. Mahoney, et al., Illustrators of Children’s Books, 1744-1945 (1947): 306 Link; Sybil Emerson, “Problems in Teaching Art” (Journal of Home Economics Dec. 1945: 615-617) Link
Creator
Emerson, Sybil Davis (1892-1980)
Publisher
Date
Contributor
Lay, Giavanna (description and biography)
Helquist, Morgan (photography)
Helquist, Morgan (photography)
Source
New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY
Object #FA 1504
Object #FA 1504
Format
jpeg, 2.3 MB
jpeg, 1.2 MB
jpeg, 1.2 MB
Type
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Oil on canvas painting
Physical Dimensions
Image: 27.5 x 20.5 in.
Frame: 35 x 28 in.
Frame: 35 x 28 in.