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Preview image of work. drypoint on paper,  Shadow Dance 5458

1963.323

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Shadow Dance

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Artist

Martin Lewis (1881 - 1962)

Title

Shadow Dance

Creation Date

1930

Century

20th century

Dimensions

9 7/16 in. x 10 7/8 in. (23.9 cm. x 27.7 cm.)

Object Type

print

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

drypoint on paper

Credit Line

Gift of Miss Susan Dwight Bliss

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1963.323

Martin Lewis was an Australian-born printmaker who worked in newspaper illustration and is noted for the striking use of dark shadows that give his works a film noir-like effect. In Shadow Dance, clusters of backlit female figures, identifiable by their almost ethereal translucent skirts, dominate the frame, their individual features fading almost into silhouette forms while long shadows stretch before them. These figures are juxtaposed with the intense glow seemingly radiating outward from the heart of the city. The clean streets, tall buildings, and the women’s short dresses and cloche hats signal a new urban modernity then emerging in American cities during the 1920s.