Washington Square Evening

Carlos Anderson|WPA

1935–43 · Lithograph · Drawings and Prints

Born in Utah, Anderson came into his own as an artist just as Regionalism, which drew on the landscapes of the Midwestern United States for inspiration, was gaining traction as a major artistic movement. After relocating to New York in the 1930s, he applied the observational, realist tactics of Regionalism to his scenes of city life. In Washington Square Evening, Anderson captured children playing and women pushing baby carriages in Washington Square Park, identifiable by the iconic arch designed by architect Stanford White and completed in 1892 to commemorate the centennial of George Washington’s presidential inauguration. Anderson made this print and several others for the Federal Art Project in New York, an initiative under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal that provided work opportunities to unemployed artists during the Great Depression.

Artist

Carlos Anderson|WPA

Date

1935–43

Medium

Lithograph

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of the Work Projects Administration, New York, 1943