Window Cleaner 1932

William Wolfson created this lithograph, "Window Cleaner," in 1950. The window, in a way, acts as a frame, drawing our eyes to the figure of labor, poised between the interior and the modern city outside. Consider the window itself: a transparent barrier that frames our view of the world, it appears in paintings across time, from Renaissance Annunciations to Dutch Golden Age interiors, often signifying insight or a transition between different realms. Here, the window cleaner straddles this divide, suspended between the grit of the immediate task and the distant towers. The motif of labor is also worth noting. From the ancient depictions of toil in Egyptian tombs to Millet’s "The Gleaners," the bending figure is a potent symbol of human effort, a timeless representation of struggle. It evokes empathy, connecting us to a collective memory of striving. This image resonates deeply because it taps into our shared understanding of work.