The Bread Line (1926): Art, History and Details

The Bread Line (1926) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Max Kalish (American, born Russia [now Lithuania], 1891–1945).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Sculptor Max Kalish described his motivation behind creating The Bread Line: "My interest in making this group came to me gradually through years of concern with the question of unemployment and poverty." The sculpture's six figures were modeled separately, then arranged together to make the final composition.

Object facts

• Title: The Bread Line
• Date: 1926
• Creator attribution: Max Kalish (American, born Russia [now Lithuania], 1891–1945)
• Culture: America
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 37.2 x 50.2 x 23.5 cm (14 5/8 x 19 3/4 x 9 1/4 in.)
• Collection: American - Sculpture
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 2015.161

A detail from the museum

The artist is buried in Mayfield Cemetery, Cleveland.

Collection credit

Gift of Lulie and Gordon Gund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.