Artists on WPA

Moses Soyer, Artists on WPA, 1935, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Soyer, 1968.61
Copied Moses Soyer, Artists on WPA, 1935, oil on canvas, 36 1⁄8 x 42 1⁄8 in. (91.7 x 107.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Soyer, 1968.61

Artwork Details

Title
Artists on WPA
Artist
Date
1935
Location
Dimensions
36 1⁄8 x 42 1⁄8 in. (91.7 x 107.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Soyer
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Occupation — art — painter
  • Figure group — artist and model
  • History — United States — Depression Era
  • New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — New York City
  • Object — furniture — chair
  • Object — art tool — palette
  • Figure group
  • Object — art tool — artist’s brush
  • Architecture Interior — studio
Object Number
1968.61
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1968.61

Artwork Description

Artists on WPA shows the interior of Soyer's studio, where his assistants apply paint to murals after his designs had been traced onto the canvases. Soyer described the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project as giving "dignity to artists. It gave them a feeling of belonging, of being useful members of society...It was a fine and hopeful period for American art."