Artwork
Docks on Sunday
Docks on Sunday is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Joseph De Martini. It dates from 1941 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The title suggests the narrative takes place on a Sunday, implying a moment of leisure or pause within the working-class waterfront district.
Painted in 1941, Joseph De Martini's work presents an urban scene situated at the docks. The composition features architectural elements, specifically buildings, which establish the industrial setting. Within this environment, the artist depicts three human figures: a woman, a boy, and a girl.
The title suggests the narrative takes place on a Sunday, implying a moment of leisure or pause within the working-class waterfront district. While the specific interactions between the figures are not detailed in the available records, their presence alongside the structural backdrop defines the painting's subject matter as a slice of daily life in a dockside community.
Technique & Style
Docks on Sunday is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring approximately 61 cm in height by 76.2 cm in width and dated 1941. The work is catalogued as a painting in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. Its material composition consists of oil paint applied to a canvas support, a standard support for De Martini’s practice during this period.
No explicit documentation of the artist’s handling techniques or current condition is available in the sources; similarly, detailed formal or stylistic analysis of the composition is not provided. The painting depicts a woman, a building, a boy, and a girl, but the sources do not elaborate on brushwork, color treatment, or compositional strategies.
History & Provenance
Docks on Sunday is an oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph De Martini dated 1941. According to the Wikidata record for the work, it was created in 1941 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains located. No information on a commissioning party, prior owners, intermediate custody, or acquisition history is documented in the available sources, and the sources do not specify how or when the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the painting or whether it passed through other collections before entering the museum's holdings.
Overview
Joseph De Martini's oil painting, Docks on Sunday, created in 1941, captures a vibrant scene of a bustling waterfront. The work is characterized by its depiction of tall, distinctively colored buildings set against a foreground populated with various figures engaged in daily activities. This painting is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Artist & collection
