The People Work: Night

1937

The People Work: Night, 1937. Benton Spruance (American, 1904–1967). Lithograph; platemark: 34.6 x 48.1 cm (13 5/8 x 18 15/16 in.); sheet: 40.8 x 58.2 cm (16 1/16 x 22 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2006.114.4 These unusual cross-section views of New York City imagine the daily commute in the big city as a beehive or ant colony that never stops. Morning is the subway commute, while Noon presents dock workers on break during a bustling lunch hour. Evening is back to the subway with the buses running overhead. And Night shows workers performing maintenance while others enjoy time off at a bar, only to start all over again the next day. Jammed with commuters both above and below street level, the series highlights the intermingling of strangers that animates urban life. This series of lithographs shows the artist Benton Spruance’s affinity for Mexican mural painting by such artists as Diego Rivera.