William E. Smith (American, 1913-1997). "Pay Day". Original linocut. 1938. Signed in pencil, lower right; titled in pencil, lower left. Edition of 20. Cream wove paper. Wide margins. A very good, dark impression. Fine condition. Overall size: 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (273 x 210 mm). Image size: 8 x 5 15/16 in. (203 x 151 mm). An impression of this rare print sold for $3,600 (including premium) at Swann Galleries, New York City, 10/4/2007, Lot #7. Smith made another linoleum cut of this subject with the pose reversed – impressions dated 1941 are in the collections of Hampton University, VA, and Harmon and Harriet Kelley, San Antonio. Smith, an African-American, moved to Cleveland from Chattanooga at the age of 12. During the early 1930s he studied at the Playhouse Settlement of the Neighborhood Association of Cleveland (now called Karamu House), one of the oldest ethnically and racially diverse cultural institutions in the United States. It was here that Smith found his passion for printmaking and began making linocuts. He exhibited widely in Cleveland, New York, Hartford, and Atlanta during the 1930s and 1940s, before subsequently moving to Los Angeles. He drew praise from the likes of Howard University artist and art historian James Porter, who lauded Smith as “one of the dominant personalities of Negro printmaking” in his 1943 publication, “Modern Negro Art.” Image copyright © The Estate of William E. Smith. [19536-2-600]