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. This website also includes an in-depth interview of the artist’s husband, Perez Zagorin, with exhibition organizer Laura Orgon MacCarthy.
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.
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