Sheet Metal Worker

Bloch’s paintings were often portraits of working-class people such as Sheet Metal Worker, which emphasized the subject’s dignity. Painted in the early 1940s, Sheet Metal Worker documents the entry of women into the industrial workforce that was once exclusively male. With men serving in the armed forces during World War II, women had an opportunity to take these skilled, high-paying jobs. Their success doing “men’s work” allowed them a new freedom and independence. Bloch’s painting of a young African American woman in her work clothes radiates this sense of confidence and optimism.