The Soup Kitchen
From the mid-1930s to mid-1940s, before he turned to abstraction, Lewis made paintings and prints that illustrated the hardships of urban life in the North for African Americans. These works followed the imagery and ideology of the Social Realists, a group of American artists who saw art as a means for social change. Notably, however, Lewis viewed the economic and political issues that confronted all Americans in terms of their particular impact on the Black community. Adopting the narrative, representational style of Social Realism, he produced such poignant pictures as The Soup Kitchen, which draws attention to the hopelessness felt by the legions of unemployed. Anonymous and defeated, these men line up at one of the WPA-sponsored kitchens for a free bowl of soup.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Soup Kitchen
- Artist: Norman Lewis (American, New York 1909–1979 New York)
- Date: ca. 1937
- Medium: Lithograph
- Dimensions: 21 1/2 × 17 1/2 in. (54.6 × 44.5 cm)
Image: 15 1/2 × 11 1/8 in. (39.4 × 28.3 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
- Object Number: 1999.529.118
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
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.