Fruit Bearers
c.1922
Medium
etching on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 17.9 × 14.4 cm (7 1/16 × 5 11/16 in.) plate: 19.3 × 15.3 cm (7 5/8 × 6 in.) sheet: 27.9 × 20.1 cm (11 × 7 15/16 in.) sheet: 30.4 × 22.9 cm (11 15/16 × 9 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.2913
Art Historical Context
"Fruit Bearers," an etching by Cleo Damianakes around 1922, captures a poised moment of abundance through delicate lines on wove paper. Damianakes, an early 20th-century American printmaker, renders figures bearing fruit in a composition that evokes everyday grace and the tactile richness of harvest. The modest image size of 17.9 × 14.4 cm invites intimate viewing, highlighting the precision of her etched lines against the smooth, even texture of wove paper—a favored support for fine prints that allows subtle tonal gradations. Etching, as a medium, was at its height in the 1920s, prized for i...