Welder c. 1930

Minna Citron created this print of a welder in 1940 using lithographic crayon and tusche. You can imagine her applying soft marks and then dark accents, building up a tonal image of the worker at his craft. I wonder what it was like for Minna to make this image during the Second World War. The welder is so focused on his craft and oblivious to her, that he seems more like a machine than a person. You can see that Citron uses delicate shading to depict the figure, which adds to this impression. The tiny details of the scene - the protective mask, the rods, the tools on the table - emphasize the physical act of production and the value that Citron placed on everyday workers. This lithograph is part of a larger tradition of social realism in American art. Like many of her peers, Citron found inspiration in the lives of working people. She seemed to want to capture a moment of time, freezing it for us to contemplate. I see these prints as part of an ongoing conversation between artists, where they encourage each other to find beauty and meaning in the most unlikely of places.