Sampling Cotton
c. 1940
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph in black
Dimensions
image: 29.8 × 24.8 cm (11 3/4 × 9 3/4 in.) sheet: 35.6 × 31.1 cm (14 × 12 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams
Accession Number
2008.115.3390
Art Historical Context
**Sampling Cotton** by Merritt Mauzey, created around 1940, captures a quintessential moment in American rural life through the artist's masterful black lithograph. Measuring nearly 12 by 10 inches, this print from the National Gallery of Art's Reba and Dave Williams Collection showcases Mauzey's skill in rendering everyday labor with striking clarity and depth. As a self-taught Oklahoma artist, Mauzey drew inspiration from the Dust Bowl era and Great Depression, focusing on the textures and rhythms of agricultural work in the Southwest. The scene likely depicts workers carefully sampling cot...