Mabel Wellington Jack and WPA/Federal Art Project, New York City
Swan Dive
1938
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Crayon and brush and tusche lithograph with scraping, Sheet: 292 x 407 mm. (11 1/2 x 16 in.)
Image: 244 x 296 mm. (9 5/8 x 11 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
The United States General Services Administration, formerly Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration, on extended loan to the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Object Number
L.1943.9.696
Despite the economic challenges of the 1930s, Americans found moments of leisure, athleticism, and play. Swan Dive—perhaps inspired by Marjorie Gestring (1922–1992), a 13-year-old American diver who won gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin—depicts a woman confidently flying through air, with a halo of light emphasizing her strength and agility. Three boys huddle around an invisible game in Boys at Play, their crouching bodies contained by the complex architecture of surrounding buildings, allusions to the responsibilities that await.
(V.Anderson and R.Joyce, Art/Work: Women Printmakers of the WPA, November 5, 2023)
Virginia Anderson and Robin Owen Joyce, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Art/Work: Women Printmakers of the WPA," November 5, 2023 - June 30, 2024.
Inscribed: RECTO: LL margin (stamped in black ink): 'FEDERAL ART PROJECT / NYC WPA'; LC margin (pencil): '-Swan Dive-'; LR margin (pencil): 'Mabel Wellington Jack.'; LR on stone: 'Mabel W. Jack'; BR Corner (pencil): '24'. VERSO: LR (pencil): '#1696 - gr. 2'; C: BMA stamp.
Publisher
WPA/Federal Art Project, New York City
2000–2000
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