Object Details
Artist
Domingo Ulloa, born Pomona, CA 1919-died El Centro, CA 1997
Gallery Label
Domingo Ulloa's crowd of seasonal laborers, who peer dejectedly through a barbed-wire fence, reinforced mounting public protest against their poor living and working conditions in the 1960s.
The artist painted this canvas after several visits to a bracero camp in Holtville, California. The Bracero Program (1942--64) was a binational effort that brought Mexican guest workers, known as braceros, to fill in agricultural labor shortages caused by World War II.
The painting's composition recalls photographs of concentration camp inmates, with which Ulloa--a World War II veteran--was familiar. Ulloa later stated, "Most of my paintings are inspired by the common people in their work, in their joy, and their struggle."
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo
Date
1960
Object number
2014.20
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on masonite
Dimensions
36 × 49 in. (91.4 × 124.5 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
On View
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1st Floor, South Wing
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Figure group\male
Mexican
Occupation\labor
Dress\accessory\hat
Architecture Exterior\detail\fence
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_2014.20