Thrash was a prolific and innovative printmaker during the 1930s and 1940s, when he worked for the WPA’s highly respected Fine Print Workshop of Philadelphia. There he developed a new intaglio process whereby the surface of a metal plate was roughened with Carborundum, a gritty abrasive that allowed for a maximum amount of ink on the plate and rich, velvety black areas in the resulting print. Thrash used this technique to expressive ends in The Welder, where the worker, enveloped in darkness, is dramatically lit by the flying sparks of his welding torch.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:The Welder
Artist:Dox Thrash (American, Griffin, Georgia 1893–1965 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Date:ca. 1936–41
Medium:Carborundum mezzotint
Dimensions:9 7/8 × 5 7/8 in. (25.1 × 15 cm)
Classification:Prints
Credit Line:Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
Object Number:1999.529.167
[Susan Teller Gallery, New York, until 1994; sold on March 1, 1994 to Williams]; Reba and Dave Williams, New York (1994–99; their gift to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "African-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–May 4, 2003, extended to July 6, 2003, no. 43.
Paris. Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. "The Color Line. Les artistes africains-américains et la ségrégation," October 4, 2016–January 15, 2017, unnumbered cat. (p. 214).
David R. Brigham. "Bridging Identities: Dox Thrash as African American and Artist." Smithsonian Studies in American Art 4 (Spring 1990), p. 37 n. 4 (unknown edition).
Michael J. Gallagher and His Circle, Including Prints from the Philadelphia W.P.A. Exh. cat., Susan Teller Gallery. New York, 1994, unpaginated, no. 53 (unknown edition), calls it "Welder".
John Ittmann. Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2001, pp. 90, 111, 143, 169, no. 108, ill. (Collection of John Warren, Philadelphia edition), dates it about 1942–44 and notes it was included, but not hung, in the artist's solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1944.
David R. Brigham in John Ittmann. Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2001, p. 58.
Kymberly N. Pinder in John Ittmann. Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2001, p. 161 n. 6.
Lisa Gail Collins inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 41, 57, 78, no. 43, ill.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, p. 75.
Rachel Mustalish inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 87–88, fig. 8 (detail), illustration detail shows "the white highlights and subtle gray tones that result from burnishing on the printing plate in the mezzotint process".
Randall R. Griffey inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 32, 104, fig. 17 (color).
Rachel Mustalish in Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, p. 53, fig. 31 (color detail).
Lowery Stokes Sims inThe Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Ed. Denise Murrell. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2024, pp. 121, 295, fig. 97 (color).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
