Property from a Savannah, GA CollectorRobert Gwathmey (NY/VA, 1903-1988), Sharecropper, lithograph, pencil signed and marked Artists Proof, initial signed within the plate, depicting a farmer with buildings, matted and framed. Frame size: 32 in. x 24 1/4 in. By sight: 26 1/2 in. x W. 18 3/4 in. Gwathmey grew into his mature social realist style during the 1940s. A compassionate observer of the human condition, Gwathmey chose rural Southern life, and especially the plight of African Americans, as his subject matter and social commentary. His best known works are characterized by simplified forms, tight composition, strong outlines, and patterning, an approach he shared with his friend and traveling companion Claude Howell. His figures, which remained representational throughout his career, are flat and his colors intense. After his retirement from teaching, Gwathmey worked from Gwathmey House, a modernist studio designed by his son, the architect Charles Gwathmey. He was elected to the American Institute of Arts and Letters and to the National Academy of Design. His work is included in many public and private collections throughout the United States including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, National Academy of Design, and the Library of Congress. (thejohnsoncollection.org)