Social

Selma Gubin

A group of teenagers dance together at a party, one shy attendee standing hesitantly to the side. Selma Gubin’s style reflects her time in the WPA learning printmaking under John Sloan, Raphael Soyer, and others who pursued social realism in a difficult time, wanting to portray the everyday lives of American citizens during the Depression. This image, however, illustrates the uninhibited post-war verve of American youth. A simple portrayal of young people having a good time, it nevertheless encompasses a new dawn for a country still recovering from world war. Here, the signs of mid-20th century regeneration are encompassed: rock and roll, dance, and flirtation.

Gubin’s family came to the United States from Russia in 1908; Gubin became a naturalized citizen in 1918, as World War I came to a head. Her formal education began during the Depression and she taught for the Federal Art Project from 1935 through the second World War. Her work often focused on the lives of children and teenagers during these turbulent times.