Family Flats

Sheets was born and raised in Pomona, California. Although he had little exposure in his early years to fine art, as a teenager he had learned about George Bellows. This Ashcan School artist's work influenced Family Flats in its depiction of urban dwellers outside their multistory apartments and in its reliance on stark contrasts of light and dark to convey form. Like many artists during the Depression, Sheets worked for the Works Progress Administration and created Family Flats while in the program. Arthur Millier praised his work for being "keenly responsive to the light, color, and warmth of this region and the vigorous, if raw, spirit of progress and optimism that give tang to life here."