From an elevated perspective we look into a pleasingly enclosed, bowl-shaped valley; agricultural plantings emphasize the land’s underlaying contours. An arboreal line runs diagonally across the property. In the middle ground, a small house and attached shed is tucked into one cluster of trees, that of a presumed farmer returning home. Weissbuch’s curvilinear composition is extended to mountains in the distance and a sky full of clouds. In this and other prints Weissbuch seems to illustrate the “American Scene” of regional artists of the 1930s, some of whom “chose to focus on rural subject matter, preferring images of the countryside and scenes that depicted a simpler side of life” (Viso). “Fields in Spring” was honored at the 12th Annual Exhibition for American Graphic Artists, Philadelphia, in 1938. An appreciative reviewer praised its “expert differentiation of varied qualities of earth and foliage,” which again might be taken to reference the print’s rural setting (Lewis). But he also was praising the woodcut’s variety of pattern for its own sake—at least a dozen different recurring ones to be observed. Weissbuch’s later “Backyard in Summer” (1942) suggests that, many years earlier, the artist was intrigued by tensions between representation and underlying forms. About the Artist The son of Romanian immigrants, Weissbuch grew up in Brooklyn and already was working at a hat factory by the age of fifteen. Weissbuch studied at the Yale University School of Fine Arts, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Art Students League (where he likely encountered the influential abstractionist Hans Hoffman). Beginning in 1934, Weissbuch worked on various WPA programs for seven years (Public Works of Art Project, Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, Federal Art Project), altogether producing 23 recorded prints. His prints were widely exhibited in New York (including MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and Albright-Knox Museum), along with traveling shows to California, England, and Scandinavia. Weissbuch also became an important mentor within the Graphic Arts Division. For a short time he was appointed its supervisor, and along with his predecessors “liked and respected by the artists. They showed sympathy and understanding and stood up for the artists under the pressures of the Project administration, which in turn was under political pressure” (Kainen 170). One such pressure by the late 1930s was a call for graphic works supporting European Allies and military preparation, rather than landscapes or social criticism. Late in 1941, Weissbuch began teaching at the newly established Utica Art School, created by the Munson – Williams – Proctor Arts Institute. Its egalitarian mission announced that faculty, “when executing their own professional work, will welcome students and the general public who may thus observe their methods in practice” (Art Digest 1 Dec. 1941: 29). Alongside American art generally, Weissbuch’s work during the 1940s moved in a direction of increasing abstraction—for example, “Backyard in Summer” (1942) and “Rooftops, No. 1” (1943)—and then fully embraced it by the end of his life in works like “Sea Motif” (1948). Given Weissbuch’s fascination with motific patterns and textures seen in FAP prints of the 1930s, though, perhaps abstraction makes sense as a latent potential within his earlier work. He was a brief, but meaningful influence upon the Pop artist Robert Indiana, who took classes at the Utica Art School while stationed near there in the amy (Ryan 271). But it seems there had been many other apprentices taught by Weissbuch along the way. 18 works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 2 works at the National Gallery of Art. 2 works at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. 4 works at Munson Museum. 1 work at the Wolfsonian-FIU. 4 versions of “Gypsy Fortune Teller,” illustrating stages of the woodcut printing process, at Wesleyan University Davison Art Collection. 5 images at FAP. Works Consulted: Olga M. Viso, “The Golden Age of American Printmaking, 1900-1950” (1994), courtesy TFAO Link Edward Lewis, “3 Shows Open at Print Club,” Philadelphia Inquirer 27 Mar. 1938: 16; Jacob Kainen, “The Graphic Arts Division of the WPA Federal Arts Project,” in The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs, ed. Francis V. O’Connor (1972) Link; Susan Elizabeth Ryan, Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech (2000). Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art (1999) Link
New Deal Museum, Mt. Morris Object #FA 1566
Cooper, Ken (description & biography) Helquist, Morgan (photography)
In a small, virtually unfurnished shack three people receive the titular sharecropper—two women and an elderly man, perhaps his father. Raboy’s possible allusion to the Prodigal Son’s return, however, is a sad moment: highlighted at the center of Raboy’s wood engraving is an empty hand above an empty table. Whether this moment captures the conclusion of a day’s work or some longer migration isn’t clear. The two women look out the door into a dark future; surely this would have resonated with many Americans in 1935. Despite no visible lighting source, the print is illuminated with high-key drama encircled by dark shadows. Clothing, wood grain, laundry, wooden siding, and even a beard all ripple with patterned light. It is a style characteristic of the artist’s other FAP works and successfully translated into a later career in comics. There also may be an autobiographical dimension to this print since the artist’s immigrant father, Ayzik (Isaac) Raboy, worked in agriculture for several years and wrote about his North Dakota experiences in Yiddish novels and short stories. “Cropper’s Return” was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art and singled out at a National Academy of Art show by the New York Times critic, who placed it “at the head of the list” (27 Mar. 1938: 142). About the Artist: Raboy is one of the better-known Federal Art Project lithographers among collectors, albeit for his subsequent work in comics, where some original drawings sell for hundreds of thousands at auction. He was born in New York City to Sarah and Ayzik (Isaac) Raboy, the latter a well-regarded Yiddish novelist who explored the contradictions of immigrant culture in works like The Jewish Cowboy (Der yidisher kauboy, 1942). Mac Raboy was a precocious artist who studied at the New York School of Industrial Arts and The Pratt Institute Art School; he marked his twentieth birthday submerged in the Great Depression. Between 1935 and 1939, Raboy created more than a dozen prints for the Federal Art Project. His high-contrast wood engravings, dramatically composed subjects, expressive bodies, and social concerns already were cohering into a distinctive style. His works were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. In 1940 Raboy began working as an illustrator for Fawcett Publications, specifically its comics division. His big break came in 1941 with a spin-off series called Captain Marvel Jr., whose disabled newsboy protagonist can transform into an heroic version of himself—not entirely different in outward appearance. Raboy became known for fine detail and dynamic, almost gravity-defying composition. With the outbreak of WWII, his series—along with work on other titles like Bulletman and Green Lama—joined the Allied Forces with strong anti-Nazi storylines. One especially interesting work during this period was a true-life story for Look Magazine in 1943. “One of Our Bombers is Missing” recounts an American B-17 bomber crew that is forced to crash-land in the Atlantic, still calling upon Raboy's FAP knack for human drama and told in sequential panels. In 1948 Raboy achieved what he considered his dream job: illustrating the (color) Sunday newspaper series of Flash Gordon, which he continued until his death in 1967. Four works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. Four works at the Art Institute of Chicago. Two works at The Gallery at Penn College. Three works at Syracuse University Art Museum. Three more images at FAP. 142 comics covers at Grand Comics Database. Mac Raboy Fan Group (facebook). Works Consulted: Alex Jay, “Mac Raboy” at Stripper’s Guide: Explorations in Newspaper Comics History 14 Dec. 2022 Link; Roy Thomas, Mac Raboy: Master of the Comics (2019) Link; Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art (1999) Link
New Deal Museum Object #FA1437
Two blocks of tenement buildings dominate this urban scene, in hues of rusty brick, gray, and white. A slightly convex picture plane tilts down dark gray sidewalks and a street in the foreground to give them even greater prominence. Only a band of light blue sky and white clouds offer respite from an evidently working-class neighborhood. Thick brushstrokes emphasize a patterned geometry of widows, shutters, cornices, and entryways. Three musicians stand at the street intersection (singing, playing a banjo and an accordion) who are matched by three spectators. A woman watches them with mild curiosity from a window above; a passerby on the sidewalk seems to be approaching them. The third figure is a man loading duffel bags onto a horse-drawn cart, with a business ironically named “Prosperity Laundry Co,” perhaps too busy in his toils to heed their appeal. The politically active Trubach seems to be offering a kind of allegory here, especially by way of an alleyway whose exaggerated orthoganals point to a shining white skyscraper in the distance. This path is obstructed by a closed iron gate; in front of it the musicians directly face viewers and make their appeal to us. About the Artist: Born in Ukraine--then part of the Russian empire--Trubach immigrated to the US before WWI, later recalling that his artistic career began at the age of eight, drawing upon the sidewalks of New York City (Clinton). At age 14 he received a scholarship at the National Academy of Design, was awarded an exhibition prize, and at 19 a two-year Mooney Traveling Fellowship to Europe. That experience with avant-garde culture shaped his artistic vision—he aligned himself with the so-called Secessionst Group and later characterized himself as a “non-objective” painter—along with his politics. During the 1930s, Trubach was a member of the radical John Reed Club, Artists Union, and the American Artists Congress. His memories of this period differ sharply from better-known histories of the Federal Art Project, recalling that administrators “tried to keep the paintings from being too wild because they had to allocate them to hospitals and they had to be serene and quiet”; sometimes he would act as “the sort of lawyer for these artists” whose subject matter was rejected (McChesney). Trubach’s work for the WPA included assistance on murals at the Central Park Police Station; Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx; and the Rincon Annex post office, San Francisco. His Federal Art Project paintings were exhibited by the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery, and the Society of Independent Artists. In 1936 he contributed a painting, "Red Builders," to an ill-fated "State Museum of Biro-Bidjan" under the auspices of ICOR. After WWII, Trubach—now reclaiming his name Serge—taught at the New England School of Art in Boston, then in 1952 relocated to Sausalito, CA along with his wife, the painter Leonora Cetone. He continued to show his art locally, advocate for community arts, and ran (unsuccessfully) for city council eleven times. 2 works at online Calabi Gallery. 13 more images at FAP. Oral history interviews by Mary Fuller McChesney (1964) and Clayton Mote (1978). Sources Consulted: Larry Clifton, “Serge Trubach, Artist and Activist,” Sausalito Historical Society 12 Aug. 2020 Link; Mary Fuller McChesney, “Oral History Interview with Serge Trubach” 5 Dec. 1964, Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project Link; Peter Hastings Falk, ed. Who Was Who in American Art (1999) Link
Trubach, Ernest (Serge), 1907 [also given as 1909 and 1911] -1979
New Deal Museum, Mt. Morris NY Object #FA 773
We’re asked to adopt a perspective almost never accessible to humans: near the top of a tree, at close proximity to parrots. A light wash of cloudy white and blue in the background encloses the birds; their distinctive colors echo those of the tree’s leaftips and berries. An earlier New Deal Gallery inventory speculates that this is a rubber tree, and it does appear to be a Ficus of some variety. Patterson’s watercolor bears resemblance in its design to his Orioles: a simplified canopy to better frame the birds, an emphasis upon their bright colors, and a use of foreshortening to bunch several birds closer together. About the Artist: Born in Monmouth, IL, Patterson’s practice of art required entrepreneurship throughout his life. The son of a printer, he financed his study at Monmouth College by working summers on the railroad in nearby Des Moines, the in 1913 he teaching art lessons (Des Moines Register 15 July 1913: 9). He went on to receive further training at the Cummings School of Art (University of Iowa), the Philadelphia School of Design, and a masters in fine arts at Harvard University. At the same time, however, he continued to teach at far-flung locations: the Cummings School (Iowa), Northern State Teachers College (South Dakota), Tulane University, and at the Universities of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin (Des Moines Register 13 Sept. 1925: 10). His professional life, in other words, was contingent; alongside notices of his teaching posts are mentions of threatened cuts to art programs. His NDG paintings most likely date to a period when he lived in New York for about a decade, perhaps teaching at Columbia University. For most of his life Patterson’s horizon remained regional; he often won prizes at the Iowa Art Salon—where he exhibited for 25 consecutive years—and the Des Moines Womens Club exhibitions.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18378
Ritz, Abigail (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography)
Four children encounter each other upon a path in Central Park, the city skyline silhouetted against a colorful sky. Two older—and, judging from their clothing, apparently wealthier—children accept a flower offered by a young girl holding a larger bunch in her arms. Her own socioeconomic status is not clear; rather, Myers offers a parable of “natural” generosity in humans before social inculcation. At left is a figure resembling a statue of St. Francis, or simply an adult standing in a field. About the Artist: Born in Petersburg, VA, and traveling to New York City at age eighteen, Myers knew poverty at first hand. He took art classes when he was able at the Art Students League and Cooper Union, but was largely self-taught and perhaps motivated more by a desire to render the city honestly—an aesthetic that had much in common with the so-called “Ashcan School” of American realism of the early twentieth century. But Myers’ own familiarity with the working class, wrote Harry Wickey, meant that his subject matter “was approached from the standpoint neither of the artist, tourist, or one who was out to expose the conditions under which these people lived. He sought out the life these quarters had to offer and it transformed itself into a thing of beauty as it passed through him” (Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition 3). Widespread fame eluded Myers during his lifetime, but his paintings are held by dozens of museums, among them: 9 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum; 11 works at Metropolitan Museum of Art; 20 works at Brooklyn Museum; 1 work at Detroit Institute of Arts; 1 work at the Corcoran Collection; 13 works at The Athenaeum. 4 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18214
It’s possible that the flowers depicted in this still life are wild mountain lilies (Lilium auratum), also called the golden-rayed lily of Japan. Whatever the case, flowers’ size and colorful radials draw our attention inward—which is similar in effect to a conch shell pictured on the same table. Warm peach colors are played against complementary greens and blues. About the Artist: Born in Syracuse, NY, Bowler attended the Syracuse University College of Fine Arts and there received a postgraduate award for study in Paris. He was best known for painting official portraits of prominent political, military, and theatrical figures such as dancers Ruth St. Denis and Michel Fokine; humorist Will Rogers, actor Vincent Price, and explorer/author Richard Halliburton. Bowler also traveled to Washington, D.C. to paint portraits of Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Vice President John Nance Garner, among others. But Bowler also was passionate about landscapes and still lifes. A 1940 newspaper article implies that his two works at NDG were part of “a series of flower paintings done for all the tuberculosis hospitals in New York” (Allentown, PA Morning Call 31 Mar. 1940: 16). During World War II, Bowler served as Director of Design for a camouflage section of the 909th Air Force Engineers, organizing a 1943 show of their work at Macy’s Department store. It was after a 32-mile training hike that he painted a well-known image entitled “After the Hike”—a picture of his worn pair of army shoes—that was exhibited in the Library of Congress. Bowler also served as director of an arts program for the American Red Cross and as a USO portrait artist during the war (Syracuse Herald-Journal 23 July 1965: 14). After 1945 Bowler continued to live and work in Bucks County, PA. A critic attending the Philips’ Mill Art Exhibition wrote that he had “all the majesty and power of great people who see great movements and think great things. A realist, his ‘Little Red Barn’ is characterized by a sensitive brush, a direct approach, rich colors and mellow overtones and an uninhibited technique — all contributing to the aching loveliness of this farm scene” (Muhlenberg Weekly 14 Oct. 1948: 2). In addition to producing many paintings, Bowler was an art teacher for much of his professional life. 1 work at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 3 works at Michener Art Museum. 2 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18119
In a darkened room, light dramatically illuminates an arrangement of flowers and dried oak leaves in a simple white vase. The leaf shapes and Sharp’s brushwork create a flamelike appearance, albeit in a more muted color palette—even the bouquet’s shadow rises sinuously upward. Highlights upon the background imply that everything here is possessed of an aura. About the Artist: Born in Galesburg, IL, Sharp grew up in Eldon, IA and showed a talent for art at an early age, matriculating at the University of Iowa in 1928. While a student he met curator Edward Rowan and painter Grant Wood, both of whom would become important figures in the regional art movement, co-founding the Stone City Art Colony. At age nineteen, taking Wood on a driving tour of Eldon, Sharp showed him the house that would figure in the iconic painting American Gothic. Sharp studied at the Stone City colony for a short period before relocating to New York, where he attended the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. It was during this period in the early 1930s that Sharp met his lifelong partner, the painter Paul Crosthwaite. The two relocated to an established art scene in Buck’s County, PA. Besides his work in the WPA easel division, Sharp was chosen to create three murals for post offices in Iowa: “Autumn” (1940), in Bloomfield; “Summer” (1941), in Rockwell City; “Winter” (1942), in Haywarden. While all show the regionalist influence of Wood, Sharp also had a distinctive sense of humor. His painting “We All Hang Together” mashes up domestic folk art and a Benjamin Franklin epigram; his landscape painting at the NDG features what appears to be a herd of cows but actually is dinosaurs. Still, his taste for surreality did not stand in the way of commercial success. Sharp was called “a skillful factualist who loves the textures of barns, flowers, leaves, shells, and old roots” (Benson). He was commissioned to render portraits of New York theater actors; his paintings were chosen for a traveling Hallmark Art Award exhibition (1951) and appeared on the cover of Colliers magazine (“P.O. Mural”). Sharp and Crosthwaite moved to Florida full-time by the mid-1950s, continuing their work while instructing younger artists. 3 works at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 3 post office murals for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. 1 work at Chrysler Museum of Art. 1 work at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 2 works at the Michener Art Museum. 5 images at Stone City Art Colony. 6 more images at FAP. Works Consulted: Gertrude Benson, “Dynamic Oils and Sculpture at Academy,” Philadelphia Inquirer 25 Jan. 1953: 17; “P.O. Mural is Hung Tuesday,” Haywarden Independent 28 May 1942: 1; Kristy Raine, et al., “John Sharp,” Stone City Art Colony and School, web.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18267
From just the other side of a split rail fence, we look downhill to a pasture and then patchwork of fields in the valley below. A stream cuts across diagonally and passes under a covered bridge; a horse and foal stand in the foreground, with sheep resting behind them. It’s a peaceful moment at dawn, a few pink clouds hovering nearby. Sabalauskas’ steep ramp of solarized colors ranges from golden pastures nearby to violet mountains in the distance. Note: this digital image is from a photograph taken during the 1990s; the painting has disappeared from the New Deal Gallery. About the Artist: We haven’t located any reliable information about this artist. Please contact us if you're able to help.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18261
Pretzer, Ron (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography)
A white vase, holding what appears to be baby’s breath and several varieties of marigolds, sits upon a table. Its blaze of yellow, orange, and red overwhelms muted pinks and mauves of the table covering and wallpaper. Rollo accentuates this emphasis through his extemporaneous patterning of the wallpaper, a casual backdrop to the painting’s more detailed flowers. Note: this digital image comes from a photograph taken during the 1990s; the painting has disappeared from the New Deal Gallery. Born Giuseppe Rollo in Ragusa, Italy, he immigrated with his family to the US in 1913 and lived in Chicago (the spelling of his name possibly dating to this time so as to differentiate him from a well-known boxer living in the city). He worked as a newsroom copy boy while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, then moved to New York in the late 1920s. His work was exhibited in places like the Whitney Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, and at different venues in Woodstock, NY. Based upon extant works, Rollo appears to have moved easily between landscape, still life, and portrait genres. In 1934 the PWAP commissioned him to paint the portrait of Chicago mayor Edward Joseph Kelly (Chicago Tribune 15 Jan. 1934: 4). 3 works at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 3 works at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum. 1 work at the National Gallery of Art. 1 work at Detroit Institute of the Arts. 2 works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 4 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18255
At an unidentified and humble market advertising “Fruits & Produce,” we see what appears to be a family preparing their display. The muted browns of the ground, wooden crates, and shed constitute much of the painting yet serve as a backdrop to the bright colors of the food and the warmth emanated by the farmers. Myers’ composition features several tiers, our eyes zig-zagging along diagonals of produce. A glow in the sky signifies that sunrise is near. The artist had a longstanding fascination with street markets as subject matter, as seen in Street Market (1917) and Marketing (1928). About the Artist: Born in Petersburg, VA, and traveling to New York City at age eighteen, Myers knew poverty at first hand. He took art classes when he was able at the Art Students League and Cooper Union, but was largely self-taught and perhaps motivated more by a desire to render the city honestly—an aesthetic that had much in common with the so-called “Ashcan School” of American realism of the early twentieth century. But Myers’ own familiarity with the working class, wrote Harry Wickey, meant that his subject matter “was approached from the standpoint neither of the artist, tourist, or one who was out to expose the conditions under which these people lived. He sought out the life these quarters had to offer and it transformed itself into a thing of beauty as it passed through him” (Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition 3). A self-portrait late in life shows a humble, quizzical man. Widespread fame eluded Myers during his lifetime, but his paintings are held by dozens of museums, among them: 3 works at Memorial Art Gallery; 9 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum; 11 works at Metropolitan Museum of Art; 20 works at Brooklyn Museum; 1 work at Detroit Institute of Arts; 1 work at the Corcoran Collection; 13 works at The Athenaeum. 4 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18213