The Spiritual 

Jack Bookbinder made this lithograph titled "The Spiritual," which portrays a young man playing the harmonica. The image invites questions about the social conditions in which artistic production takes place, particularly when considering that Bookbinder was part of the artistic left in the 1930s and 40s. Bookbinder was a Social Realist, inspired by the hardships of the working class in the USA. How might the image and title, "The Spiritual," address race, labor, or the function of music in a society marked by economic inequality and racial segregation? In what ways did music serve as a mode of social commentary and uplift for marginalized communities? To understand this image better, we can look at the history of American music and the ways in which it reflects the social and political realities of the time.