Wanda GágAmerican, 1893–1946Macy's Stairway
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Macy’s was Wanda Gág’s favorite store. Instead of showing us sales counters and crowded aisles, however, Gág chose an empty stairwell, a reference to the loneliness and alienation that many artists and writers of the 1920s associated with modern urban life. The print was based on a drawing made in 1929, when Gág had grown disillusioned with the big city. “New York always makes a wreck of me after the first two months or so, ” she had written in 1928.
The prominent firehose and ax reflect the Macy’s preoccupation with fire: when this New York store was built in 1902, every floor had its own fire department.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- P.87.13.41
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Minneapolis Institute of Art
