Trouble in Frisco
Fletcher Martin
American, 1904–1979
1938
An oil painting in which Fletcher Martin stages a violent brawl between two seamen seen through a ship's porthole, using sculptural bodies and cinematic framing to dramatize working‑class life.
You're struck by the compression of space—two sinewy figures frozen mid‑fight within the round brass porthole, their twisting limbs echoed by the metal rim and the heavy drapery at the edge of the scene.
Made in 1938, the work exemplifies American social realism's focus on labor and everyday conflict and helped popularize bold, cinematic compositions that brought gritty narrative drama into museum painting.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
30 x 36" (76.2 x 91.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Accession
10.1939
Palette
Exhibitions