Curtain Factory
ca. 1936–39
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 1/4 × 20 1/2 in. (36.2 × 52.1 cm) Image: 12 in. × 15 3/4 in. (30.5 × 40 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of New York City W.P.A., 1943
Accession Number
43.33.694
Tags
Art Historical Context
Riva Helfond's *Curtain Factory* (ca. 1936–39) is a poignant lithograph born from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program that employed artists during the Great Depression to document American life. As part of New York City's WPA graphic arts project, Helf captured the daily grind of urban industry, focusing on women laborers—a theme resonant in social realist art of the era. This print, gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of in 1943, exemplifies federal initiatives democratized art, making prints accessible to wide audiences. The image depicts a bustling factory scene with ...