New Deal artwork

[2] This work produced between 1933 and 1942[2] ranges in content and form from Dorothea Lange's photographs for the Farm Security Administration to the Coit Tower murals to the library-etiquette posters from the Federal Art Project to the architecture of the Solomon Courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee.

[3] The Historic Sites Act of 1935 instigated a similar documentary record, including photographs and architectural plans, for the National Park Service properties.

[5] (Note: New Deal historiographic work is a separate, albeit overlapping, topic that includes “the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Index of American Design, the establishment of the National Archives, the historic restoration work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the WPA’s Historical Records Survey, and the hundreds of WPA books and writings covering the histories of states, towns, folklore, art, African Americans, American Indians, Latinos, and more.”)[5] Collectively, the artists of the New Deal produced a vast archive: Murals, including 1,100 post office murals (list),[6] free-standing and bas relief sculpture, an estimated 30,000 posters,[7] more than 700 books and pamphlets and radio scripts,[8] and architectural details for scores of public buildings, in a style now called WPA Moderne.

[9] The New Deal arts programs emphasized regionalism, social realism, class conflict, proletarian interpretations and audience participation.

[12] The New York Times reported that the Whitney show “abounds in vitality” and was especially complementary about the sculpture, including William Zorach’s Benjamin Franklin and Heinz Warneke’s Bears.