Gathering Up Kernels

Accession Number
1958/1.120

Title
Gathering Up Kernels

Artist(s)
Francisco Dosamantes

Object Creation Date
1932-1958

Medium & Support
linoleum cut on paper

Dimensions
22 5/8 x 15 5/8 in. (57.47 x 39.69 cm);32 1/16 x 26 1/16 in. (81.44 x 66.2 cm);25 13/16 x 19 3/4 in. (65.56 x 50.17 cm);22 5/8 x 15 5/8 in. (57.47 x 39.69 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Dosamantes was a Mexican graphic artist whose work expressed anti-fascist views and a commentary on the government. In 1932, he became an advocate for the rural farm laborers of Mexico after participating in mission work. The women in this print are emaciated and desperately reaching for a single kernels of corn, indicating the plight that farmers faced as did Millet in his "Gleaners." Dosamantes  was a founding artist of Taller de Gráfica Popular and the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana and, from 1934 to 1938, he was a member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios.

Physical Description
In this print, four women in shawls and layers of cloth are positioned on their hands and knees or laying on the ground. All of them are reaching for a small seed, perhaps a kernal of corn. Their bodies span two jagged cracks that split the ground in a small clearing in a field.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
relief print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Mexican
corn (seed)
farmers (people in agriculture)
field
kneeling
modern and contemporary art
political art
starvation
women (female humans)

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& Author Notes

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