Girl Skating Analysis

At the turn of the 20th century, American cities were met with a massive influx of immigration from Europe. These immigrants fled their countries to escape poverty, religious persecution, and tyrannical leaders in the search of a new life in America. Most would enter America through Ellis Island, resulting in large immigrant populations in New York. Promised a land of greater opportunities, many were disappointed when high paying jobs and comfortable housing conditions proved to be scarce. At the time, many artists attempted to capture the hardships these immigrants faced in many different forms. Using the newly invented box camera, which was a mass produced camera for amateurs, artists like Jacob Riis documented immigrant life in the city to garner attention from upper classes. Of course, photography was not the only art form used to accomplish this. Artists like Abastenia Saint Leger Eberle also supported in the form of sculpture. With the upsurge of immigrants in America, artists used their art to expose the hardships these lower class settlers faced. Immigrants arriving from Europe would enter America through Ellis Island. Louis Hine’s, Italian Immigrants, …show more content…
Abastenia Saint Leger Eberle captures a girl roller blading in her sculpture, Girl Skating. Compared to the metal used in public monuments, Eberle constructs the girl using a muddier looking metal, making her seem dirty or poor. This is proven when the observer notices that the girl only has one skate, indicating she does not have the funds to purchase the full set. Typically, upper class children played indoors, away from the streets. This girl is doing the opposite by having fun outside. Her dress curves in a way to make her seem moving and dynamic while still being a static statue, like a snapshot of a moving scene. Despite limited resources, lower class immigrant children still found ways to have fun in New