Smithsonian American Art Museum
The End of Day
Max Kalish, born Valozin, Lithuania 1891-died New York City 1945 · 1930
Max Kalish chose laborers, particularly steelworkers and riveters, as his subject because of their important role in industrialized America. Factories employed so many people that to Kalish these workers represented the common man. He appreciated the rhythm and grace that workers showed in their daily tasks, and captured both the physical effort and the well-deserved rest of his laborers, as shown here in The End of the Day. His images of the “heroic worker” were aimed at restoring faith and optimism to a dispirited population suffering the ravages of the Depression.
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