: The Great Depression of the 1930s had a profound effect on the
lives of Americans, from artists and writers to factory workers
and families. Several agencies under President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's administration were established to come to the
public's aid.
Among them, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) addressed the
problem of the unemployed professional (including artists) by
creating jobs for millions; and the Farm Security Administration
(FSA) documented the widespread poverty and economic distress in
order to procure assistance for farmers.
Now an exhibition at The New York Public Library's Humanities and
Social Sciences Library (Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street),
"Depression-era Prints and Photographs from the WPA and FSA,"
provides a visual testimony to this most difficult period by
showcasing the work of printmakers and photographers working in
New York and its environs during the 1930s and 40s. The
exhibition, in the Print and Stokes Galleries on the Third Floor,
will remain on view through January 17. Admission is free.
By employing some 5,000 artists in more than 1,000 cities, the
WPA helped foster a distinctly American art. The artists created
murals, easel paintings, sculptures and prints. The exhibition
focuses on the latter, made in the New York workshop of the WPA
between 1935 and 1943. Among the 56 visually compelling prints
are works by Albert Abramowitz (1879-1963), Nan Lurie (born
1910), Louis Lozowick (1892-1973) and Raphael Soyer (1899-1987).
Although FSA photographs documenting America's rural development
are well known, those portraying life in the urban and suburban
environments of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the focus
of this part of the exhibition, are far less familiar. Taken in
the 1930s and 40s, the photographs became more than just
documentary evidence, but recognized works of art. Among the 73
images on view are works by Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), Arthur
Rothstein (1915-1985), John Collier (1913-1992), Russell Lee
(1903-1986) and Jack Delano (1914-1997).
In 1935, a portion of the funding for the Works Progress
Administration was designated for unemployed writers, actors,
musicians and artists. The WPA's Graphic Arts Division, New York
workshop, employed 80 artists, 53 of whom are represented in the
exhibition. They were given a salary, supplies and access to a
professional printer at a workshop. Working with the WPA opened
up new worlds to many of the participants, and, unfettered by
financial worries, many felt free to experiment creatively.
The 56 prints on display reflect a wide range of artistic styles
and mediums, and the subject matter, though rooted unmistakably
in the 1930s and 40s, not only depicts the hardships of the
Depression, but includes portraits of everyday people, city
scenes and rural landscapes, and even humorous situations.
Some subject matter in the "Prints" section of the exhibition is
mirrored on the "Photographs" side. For example, in her 1939
lithograph "Summer Night," Mabel Dwight (1876-1955), shows a
scene dominated by a clothes line strung between buildings, while
photographer Russell Lee (1903-1986) depicts "clothes washings
between 138th and 139th street apartments" in a 1936 silver
gelatin print.
When the WPA program ended in 1943 and the New York workshop
closed, approximately 1,200 prints were deposited with the print
collection of The New York Public Library, where they are
regularly used as a reference source by scholars and researchers.
To legitimize assistance programs for farmers, the federal
government launched a propaganda campaign in 1935 to publicize
the widespread poverty and economic distress of the country. Roy
E. Stryker (1882-1975) directed a federal photography project
within several New Deal agencies, including the Resettlement
Administration, the Office of War Information and the Farm
Security Administration. The photographers he hired -- most are
now considered masters -- included both established artists such
as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and John Collier, and newcomers
like Russell Lee and Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985). The works they
produced include some of the most iconic and widely recognized
images in history.
Displayed with the photographs are direct transcriptions of
captions from the reverse side of the images, written by the
photographers and FSA staff. They often add a poignant sense of
time and place, providing a small window into people's lives
during the Depression. An image by Arthur Rothstein is captioned,
"Girl picker at cranberry bog. Three-fourths of cranberry pickers
are children." Another, by Delano, explains: "Mr and Mrs Edward
L. Gay, and their children. He is a dairy and poultry farmer. Has
a 23-acre farm in Groton, Conn. And was completely flooded out
during the hurricane."
"Depression-era Pints and Photographs from the WPA and FSA" is
co-curated by Margaret Glover of The New York Public Library's
Print Collection. The exhibition draws exclusively from the 1943
allocation to the Pint Collection, and from the approximately
40,000 photographs transferred to the Wallach Division's
Photography Collection, and celebrates the unique relationship
between the government and the arts.
Exhibition hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 am to 7:30
pm; Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm; closed Sundays,
Mondays, and national holidays. Admission is free. For
information, 212-869-8089, or visit www.nypl.org.
