Springtime c. 1919

Jerome Myers made this etching titled 'Springtime'. We don’t know when, but probably in the first decades of the 20th century. It shows a mother, baby, and two young girls in an outdoor setting that is somewhere between a park and an untended yard. Myers was an American artist known for his sympathetic depictions of urban life, particularly in New York City. The image subtly challenges the conventions of its time. We see children playing freely, not neatly posed in a studio, or presented as emblems of wealth. The mother figure appears accessible, not idealized. 'Springtime' suggests a world of leisure and play, even if in modest settings. The etching medium itself speaks to a certain democratization of art, making images more accessible than unique paintings. To fully understand this print, we might explore the social history of American cities, the changing roles of women, and the rise of artistic movements focused on everyday life. Art historians use such contextual understanding to reveal the meaning of an artwork, seeing it as a product of specific social and institutional forces.