A relatively obscure African American artist, Hill produced this lithograph as a teenager while he was taking printmaking classes at the Works Progress Administration’s Harlem Community Art Center from fellow printmaker Riva Helfond (to whom he dedicated this sheet in an inscription). Hill harnessed the tonal variations of the medium to create a dense scene full of implied movement and sound, from the honking of car horns to the call of the diminutive young paperboy. Soon after completing this work, Hill joined the Merchant Marines and submitted it for inclusion in a February 1943 exhibition of art made by members of the armed forces. He died before he could see it on view, however, when a German torpedo sank his ship. This may be the only surviving example of the early print.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Newsboy
Artist:Carl G. Hill (American, (?) 1920–1943)
Date:1938
Medium:Lithograph
Dimensions:13 13/16 × 10 1/2 in. (35.1 × 26.7 cm)
Classification:Prints
Credit Line:Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
Accession Number:1999.529.65
Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (lower left, in graphite): To Riva / With best Wishes; (lower right, in graphite): CARL G. HILL 1938
Riva Helfond, New York (from ca. 1938; gift of the artist); [Sragow Gallery, New York, until 1989; sold on July 1, 1989 to Williams]; Reba and Dave Williams, New York (1989–99; their gift to MMA)
Newark Museum, held jointly at the Equitable Gallery, New York. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," December 10, 1992–February 28, 1993, no. 31 (as "Paper Boy").
Long Beach Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," June 4–August 8, 1993, no. 31.
Cambridge, England. Fitzwilliam Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," October 5–December 19, 1993, no. 31.
Albany. New York State Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 5–March 13, 1994, no. 31.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," April 7–June 12, 1994, no. 31.
Louisville. Speed Art Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," July 12–September 4, 1994, no. 31.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," October 9–December 4, 1994, no. 31.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 4–February 26, 1995, no. 31.
Charleston. Gibbes Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," March 26–May 21, 1995, no. 31.
Miami Beach. Bass Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," June 18–August 13, 1995, no. 31.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," September 10–November 5, 1995, no. 31.
Mobile, Ala. Fine Arts Museum of the South. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," December 3, 1995–January 28, 1996, no. 31.
Brooklyn Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," February 25–April 22, 1996, no. 31.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," May 17–July 14, 1996, no. 31.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," August 9–October 6, 1996, no. 31.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," November 1, 1996–January 2, 1997, no. 31.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 31–March 30, 1997, no. 31.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "City Life: Around the Eight," August 22, 2000–January 14, 2001, no catalogue.
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. 32.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints: New York Inspired," January 21–April 26, 2021.
Aimée Crane, ed. Art in the Armed Forces: Pictured by Men in Action. New York, 1944, ill. p. 211.
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, p. 63, no. 32, 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. 59.
Joyce Henri Robinson. "Front and (Almost) Center: Some Recent Collections Shows." International Review of African American Art 19, no. 2 (2003), p. 52, ill.
Dave H. Williams. Small Victories: One Couple's Surprising Adventures Building an Unrivaled Collection of American Prints. Boston, 2015, p. 108, fig. 8 (color), calls it "Untitled (Newsboy)".
William Henry Johnson (American, Florence, South Carolina 1901–1970 Central Islip, New York)
ca. 1941
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