Last Call
Lauren St John
Acrylic, charcoal and pencil on canvas, 20 x 28 inches; SOLD
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The moment I saw the Prohibition Era news photograph that inspired this, I was captivated by it. It was taken in Detroit on January 16, 1920, the day before America went dry. It is set on a public street during daylight hours and yet the atmosphere is so forbidding it could be night. We can only imagine the deals being done and secret promises being made at this, the eleventh hour, before the 18th Amendment ushered in record levels of law-breaking and organized crime.
-- Lauren St John