Little Willie

Thomas Arthur Robertson

Little Rock, Arkansas artist Tom Robertson seems to have learned screenprinting while living in New Orleans in the late 1930s, while serigraphy was first being developed as a serious printmaking method in the WPA. Artists saw this medium as a way to get their work seen by a larger number of people.

"Little Willie", done around 1940, uses a simplicity of design to capture the essence of a dance, perhaps a tango, as two entwined figures "move" across the floor. Robertson differentiates the figures using green and a rust color and suggests the edge of a gown with white ruffles. The composition is printed on a rust colored paper.

Robertson used a spatter technique on the screen for the subtle background, printed in a darker rust color, that creates circular "bubbles" in the upper background and a "floor" in the lower area.