Man

Under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, many American artists took up lithography, a medium that was inexpensive and allowed for the printing of large editions for a mass audience. Responding to the harsh realties of life during the Great Depression, as well as to government patronage of the arts, social realism emerged as the dominant style in prints of the period. Byron Thomas’ poignant lithograph of an anonymous man seen from behind evokes the joblessness and hopelessness of the time without overtly telling a story. The artist’s nuanced handling of his medium, rendering infinitely subtle transitions of gray, lends dignity to his subject, who looks down, waiting for the promise of a better future.