The Temperance Sweep
Series TitleStreet Life in London, part 4, May 1877
Artist
John Thomson
(Scottish, 1837 - 1921)
Date1877
MediumWoodburytype
DimensionsImage and sheet: 3 5/8 × 2 1/4 inches (9.21 × 5.72 cm)
Mount: 10 7/8 × 8 7/16 inches (27.62 × 21.43 cm)
Mount: 10 7/8 × 8 7/16 inches (27.62 × 21.43 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2010.18.40.3.3
Signednone
InscribedOn mount recto, bottom, printed in red type: "THE TEMPERANCE SWEEP."
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionSidewalk scene: view of elderly man holding chimney sweep apparatus and cloth or coat over one arm, a small boy stands leaning against a wall behind him.Exhibition HistoryRotation 23. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 18 – May 28, 2017, no cat.
This image come from John Thomson’s project Street Life in London, made in collaboration with the radical journalist Adolphe Smith in 1876–77, and is part of a series of 37 images focuses on notable neighborhood personalities, or "types." The project is considered the beginning of modern social-documentary photography. Thomson was one of the most widely traveled photographers of his time. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he worked in East and Southeastern Asia from 1862 to 1872.
Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2010;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2010.
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2010.
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