Neighborhood in Summer c. 1930s

Francis Chapin made this etching entitled *Neighborhood in Summer* sometime in the mid-twentieth century. It's a dense and evocative image of urban life. The print gives us a complex view of a bustling streetscape, perhaps in Chapin's home city of Chicago. We see figures mingling, cars and trucks vying for space, and the imposing architecture of civic buildings looming in the background. The scene captures the energy, and perhaps also the chaos, of modern urban existence. Chapin made much of his art depicting the urban landscape of Chicago. What can we say about the social function of this work? Does Chapin celebrate the modern city, or critique its social inequalities? These are questions that social historians of art might ask. By looking at photographs, newspapers and other period documents, we can better understand the particularities of time and place that shaped Chapin's vision.