Anatomy of a Painting: Honoré Sharrer's Tribute to the American Working People

Exhibited at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Washington, D.C.
March 8 - June 20, 2007

Around 1943, artist Honoré Sharrer first conceived of the painting now known as Tribute to the American Working People. The resulting polyptych consists of five panels, each meticulously painted in oil on composition board.

The Archives of American Art acquired Honoré Sharrer's personal papers in May 2006. The collection is rich with correspondence, lively sketches, and copious amounts of photographs used by the artist to create her work. Much of this material relates directly to Tribute to the American Working People, revealing the artist's process.

In addition to the documents on view in the exhibition, the Archives has created an Interactive Exhibition Highlight that illustrates the way the artist used photographs to create Tribute to the American Working People.

An in-depth interview of the artist's husband, Perez Zagorin, with exhibition organizer Laura Orgon MacCarthy is also available. View the complete transcript: Interview with Perez Zagorin

This exhibition was on view March 8 - June 20, 2007, at the Archives of American Art's Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.

The Archives of American Art wishes to thank the Smithsonian American Art Museum for their generous loan of Tribute to the American Working People for this exhibition.

Images from this Exhibition

[Ammunition, published by the UAW-CIO], 1957 June.	[Honoré Sharrer], ca. 1955.	[Lincoln Kirstein, New York, N.Y. letter to Honor? Sharrer, New York, N.Y.], 1953 May 17.
[Honore Sharrer in her studio], 1951 April 4.	[Honoré Sharrer, New York, N.Y. letter to Honoré Sachs], 1950 Apr. 14.	[Fellowship application for the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation], c. 1948.
[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Laborer outside], ca. 1948.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Man with hat and pipe], ca. 1948.	[Dorothy Canning Miller, New York, N.Y. letter to Honoré Sharrer, New York, N.Y.], September 13, 1945.
[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Young woman outdoors leaning on shelving], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Profile of a man smoking], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Man seated in chair and woman posing as if hanging clothes on a line], ca. 1947.
[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Man in chair smoking pipe], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Woman laborer], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Back view of man with a cap], ca. 1947.
[Honore Sharrer outdoors], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Young man sitting in a chair], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Boy holding drawing], ca. 1947.
[Central figure of the Tribute to the American Working People], ca. 1947.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Two children], ca. 1947.	[Notes for the polyptych Tribute to the American Working People ], 1944-1950.
[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. A boy seated in a chair], ca. 1945.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. Schoolchildren], ca. 1945.	[Source material for Tribute to the American Working People. School teacher], ca. 1945.