Alma Sewing
Francis Criss
American, 1901–1973
![Alma Sewing](https://dlc.services/iiif-img/16/6/14487_1678475944715/full/1024,742/0/default.jpg)
Details
Title
Alma Sewing
Artist/Maker
Francis Criss (American, 1901–1973)
Date
ca. 1935
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
33 x 45 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from the Fine Arts Collectors, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schwob, the Director's Circle, Mr. and Mrs. John L. Huber, High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund, Stephen and Linda Sessler, the J.J. Haverty Fund, and through prior acquisitions
Accession #
2002.70
Francis Criss was critically acclaimed for his distinctive blend of realism and abstraction. Alma Sewing is his most ambitious and striking work. In its celebration of the artist as worker, the painting is a quintessential 1930s expression, but it also makes a personal statement: a self-portrait appears in the lower half of the seamstress’s lamp. While Alma may be viewed as the artist’s model, Criss thoughtfully presents her as a skilled professional surrounded by the tools of her trade.