Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (in pencil, bottom): Asphalt Workers 6th Imp. James L Wells '40
the artist (1940–1988; sold on October 1, 1988 to Williams); Reba and Dave Williams, New York (1988–99; their gift to MMA)
Annandale-on-Hudson, N. Y. Edith C. Blum Art Institute, Bard College. "Preserving the Past: Latin-American, African-American and European-American Printmakers of the 1930s. From the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," October 4–December 6, 1992, unnum. brochure.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "City Life: Around the Eight," August 22, 2000–January 14, 2001, no catalogue.
Hamilton, N. Y. Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University. "Life Impressions: 20th-Century African American Prints from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 10–November 4, 2001, no. 34.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "African-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–May 4, 2003, extended to July 6, 2003, no. 35.
Paris. Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. "The Color Line. Les artistes africains-américains et la ségrégation," October 4, 2016–January 15, 2017, unnumbered cat. (p. 214).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s," September 5–December 10, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 13).
Richard J. Powell and Jock Reynolds. James Lesesne Wells: Sixty Years in Art. Exh. cat., Washington Project for the Arts. Washington, D.C., 1986, p. 56, no. 27, ill. p. 21 (unknown edition; collection of the artist).
Corrine Jennings inThe Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art. Ed. Douglas K.S. Hyland. Exh. cat., San Antonio Museum of Art. San Antonio, 1994, p. 64, no. 115 (not this edition, Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection).
Mary Ann Calo inLife Impressions: 20th-Century African American Prints from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Dewey F. Mosby. Exh. cat., Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University. Hamilton, N. Y., 2001, pp. 10, 13.
Dewey F. Mosby and Jane Seney inLife Impressions: 20th-Century African American Prints from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Dewey F. Mosby. Exh. cat., Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University. Hamilton, N. Y., 2001, pp. 39, 41, 69, no. 34, fig. 19.
Lisa Gail Collins inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 62, 66, no. 35, ill.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, p. 59.
C[harles]. H[enry]. R[owell]. "James L. Wells." Callaloo 39, no. 5 (2016), p. 1064, ill. p. 1133 (color).
Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, pp. 15, 194, colorpl. 13.
James Lesesne Wells (American, Atlanta, Georgia 1902–1993 Washington, D.C.)
ca. 1940
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