“Welcome Home” by Jack Levine

The artwork that I chose to analyze is titled “Welcome Home”. It was painted by American painter Jack Levine circa 1946. Jack Levine was best known for his satirical and comical representations of politicians, policemen, and other authoritative figures. The time period in which he created his greatest works was known as the period of social realism, and this was especially reflected in this work. The term social realism is used to describe pieces of work that bring attention to the socio-political struggles of the middle class in order to criticize the authority that causes these injustices. 

“Welcome Home” caught my eye particularly because of Levine’s cartoon painting style. In the piece, we are shown a glimpse of a dinner party from a bird’s eye view. Three men and a woman are seen dining, and each seems to be dissatisfied with what they are being served. The woman’s head is elongated, particularly to emphasize her puckered, unhappy demeanor, and the inflated, bald heads of the men compliment their bulging stomachs.

This painting is a great example of conceptual art. The foolish, glutenous way that Levine portrays the general in particular is meant to jab at the arrogance of US military generals. He is the only subject in this painting who has his napkin tucked into his collar, symbolizing his greed for more food. Furthermore, the painting’s message attempts to sympathize with working class Americans from the depiction of the waiter on the right side of the painting. The waiter does not hold as high of a distinction compared to the general and his fellow comrades; however, he is clearly doing his best to please the group with his services, but he is given no attention. This is likely to stir frustration within any viewer of this painting who can relate to the waiter’s circumstances. This is a mimesis of a dinner party scene, but Levine purposefully draws the figures in a comic-like fashion to belittle authority.

The material expression of Jack Levine’s message has the power to effectively communicate with the viewer. In particular, the way that Levine messily depicts the figures in dinner scene mirrors the grubby nature of a greedy eater. It makes the viewer feel disgusted at the general and his comrades, reflecting the emotions Levine wants to stir towards authority in general. Furthermore, Levine was purposeful when he painted the waiter; his full body is shown, as opposed to only the top halves of the guests, and he is dressed in an emerald green suit. We are drawn to the waiter because of the bright color of his garb and the wholeness of his figure, yet the guests are not. This portrays an underlying message of authority’s ignorance towards the working class and being narrowly focused on their own personal gain through the exploitation of others’ hard efforts..

This painting sparked a lot of controversy in the political world. The painting was originally shown in the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1956. The event was meant to advertise the prosperity of the American people in the 1950s and flaunt American superiority to the Soviets in Moscow. However, the choice to enter this painting into the exhibition was a poor one; many attendees of the event had “records of affiliations with Communist fronts and causes” and the reputation of America was ridiculed. When Dwight D. Eisenhower interfered and regarded the painting as “lampoon more than art,” Edith Halpert, American art dealer, fought back, claiming that this painting merely ridiculed the image of arrogant, greedy generals, not America’s generals in particular. Interestingly enough, Halpert was born in Ukraine and was fluent in the Russian language, gaining her popularity in the Soviet Union. She used this and Levine’s painting to show the world that America is the land of the free because it allows its artists to create whatever work they want to, no matter what message it embodies. Thus, despite its rocky beginning, “Welcome Home” became an icon of American freedom.