Cafeteria

Born in Russia, Isaac Soyer immigrated along with his artist brothers Raphael and Moses to the United States shortly before World War I. During high school, he took evening classes at Cooper Union, and after graduating, studied at the National Academy of Design. He traveled to Europe in 1928, where he was drawn to the old masters at the Louvre. A Social Realist like his brothers, Soyer depicted the urban social and economic difficulties of the Great Depression. As Social Realist art was meant to effect social change, the painting had to be easy to read—abstraction might have obscured the artist’s intention. In contrast with the celebration of American life often seen in much of the work of the Regionalists, Soyer sympathetically painted tired shopgirls, absorbed office workers, and scenes of their drab lives.

Along with the lettering “Cafeteria,” the phrase “Ladies Invited” appears on the window, a perhaps ironic welcome to the women of the segregated working world. The woman engrossed in reapplying her lipstick after finishing her meal is most likely a secretary on her lunch hour. She is seated next to a man who is probably a white-collar office manager. Oblivious to her presence, he is immersed in his newspaper, which creates a physical barrier between them. Soyer's painting is informed by the work of Edgar Degas, which can be seen here both in the manner that the figures are cut off by the edge of the canvas, and in the emptiness and distance that separates these self-absorbed individuals. The hierarchy of the workplace, where men held positions as managers, supervisors, and executives while women worked as secretaries, clerks, and receptionists with little chance of advancement, is carried over into this scene; larger and occupying more of the picture plane, the man visually dominates the woman. Even the newspaper he is reading invades her area of the canvas, forcing her into the corner. Although the sphere Soyer depicts is not entirely a warm and friendly place, his sympathy for the inhabitants is clear nonetheless.