If I had the Wings of an Angel
Artist
Barse Miller
(1904 - 1973)
Date1937
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions26 x 36 in. (66 x 91.4 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of the Hilbert Collection
Object number2017.028
DescriptionDuring and after the Great Depression, art with narrative subject matter that visually told a story was very popular in California. At the time Miller created this painting, this carousel and lunch counter were located in Lincoln Park in the Lincoln Heights area of East Los Angeles.At first glance, this painting appears to be about the people having fun on the merry-go-round. Your eye is drawn immediately to the white carousel horses in the center. But then you become aware of the other stories playing out. In the foreground, at the lunch counter, the man on the left is perhaps a streetcar conductor, looking at his watch as he finishes a cup of coffee.
But the man at the counter to the right looks troubled, maybe even devastated, about something, as the woman behind him appears to try to comfort him. Since it's 1937, the height of the Depression, perhaps the man on the right has lost his job, or is trying to find a job with no success.
The title of the painting is another clue to what's happening. "If I Had the Wings of an Angel" was a popular folk song or, as it was called then, "hillbilly song," written in the 1920s. Also called "The Prisoner's Song," its lyrics begin "If I had the wings of an angel/Over these prison walls I would fly..."
So it's talking about being imprisoned or, perhaps, feeling imprisoned. Certainly someone suffering from economic hardship during the Depression, feeling that they had nowhere to turn, might feel like a prisoner of circumstances.
On View
Not on viewCollections
