Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Unlawful Assembly, Union Square
Edward Laning American
Not on view
Union Square in downtown Manhattan was a popular site for protests in the early years of the Depression. Laning’s composition focuses on the chaotic aftermath of one such demonstration, with a crowd being broken up by police officers on horseback. An abandoned, wordless protest sign in the foreground alludes to the event’s dissenting character.
Laning participated in the revival of tempera, a painting technique commonly used in Europe during the Renaissance. Noted for its thin, precise, hard-edged brushstrokes, tempera naturally lent itself to figural realism. Laning was also inspired by sculptural friezes carved in high relief from the ancient world. His work merged traditional artistic methods with contemporary subject matter.
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