Cement Finishers

Leon Gilmour

Three men pour and smooth cement, perhaps for a foundation or platform, the road-carved hillsides and sharply delineated lines of development presenting a stark scene of industry behind them. Highlighted are the figures of the laborers, who are wiry and broad-shouldered, and sculpted by hard-earned strength. The deftly wrought composition is a powerful portrait of idealized early 20th century American progress, uplifting laborers and their role in society. Executed during the Depression, the image resounds with hope.

Latvian-born artist Leon Gilmour didn’t discover woodengraving until the mid 1930s when, at the age of 25, he studied under printmaker Paul Landacre at the Otis Art Institute. Until his arrival in Los Angeles 1931, he had been a migrant worker with only a small amount of formal education at his adopted home of Boston, MA, where he had first resided upon arrival in the U.S. His lengthy journey to the West Coast by foot and rail, working wherever he could find pay on ranches and farms, surely influenced his work.