96 Artists Magazine January/February 2020Lasting impression
Allan Rohan Crite [American,1910–2007]thoughtofhimself
as an artist-reporterwhoseassignmentwastocapturethedailylivesof
ordinary peopleinBoston’sRoxburyandSouthEndneighborhoods.Inthis
painting, hisskillasanacuteobserveris apparent.Theimageis localand
specifi c. It showsdozensofchildrenleavingtheannexofEverettElementary
School in Boston’sSouthEndata timewhenboysandgirlsweretaught
separately. Butthepaintingis morethana notationabouta specific place
and time.AlthoughCriteacknowledgedthatthecanvasmightreflect
a romanticizedview,it canalsobeviewedasa universalstatement
aboutcommunity,stabilityandthebondsoffamilylife.
VIRGINIA MECKLENBURG
Chief Curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM.School’s Out
by Allan Rohan Crite
1936; oil on canvas, 30½x36⅛
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM,
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