Migrant Family

Artist George Eurengy Samerjan (1915 - 2005)

Date1939

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions18 x 24"

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineGift of John Samerjan, GeorgeSamerjanart.com

Object number2020.003

DescriptionIn his memoirs, Samerjan writes of this painting: “Barely out of my teens, I painted a migrant family desperately attempting to reach California, in their jalopy ready to crumble and melt into the highway. One can’t imagine a sadder sight as the overloaded car made its hopeful way.” During the Great Depression, many American families fled the climate disaster of the Dust Bowl, heading to the golden land of California to try to find work and a new life. Here the old car seems to float on an almost surreal field of dust, and the family leans forward as if in determination to reach their new world against all odds. The moon, like a heavenly overseer, illuminates their way westward.

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