Main entry:

Maresca, Joseph, 1946- author.

Title & Author:

WPA buildings : architecture and art of the new deal / Joseph Maresca.

Publication:

Atglen, PA : Schiffer Publishing Ltd., [2016]
©2016

Description:

160 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (page 159) and index.
Love at first sight : first impressions last forever -- WPA style : alive and well everywhere in America -- The evolution of New Deal style : from zig-zag exuberance to streamlined fortress -- Form and function : details of the design -- Simply moderne : modernism with an American twist -- Paul Cret's influence : developing a recognizable signature -- From sea to shining sea : a lasting and widespread impression -- The New Deal moves ahead : the calm before the storm -- The buck stopped here and there : the aesthetic legacy of the New Deal -- The WPA and the art of the mural -- A call to arts.

Summary:

In a fully illustrated, well-documented study, a historically underappreciated, uniquely American style gets its due. This survey explores the often overlooked social impact of imposing government buildings in American cities, large and small, that were funded by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. It was The New Deal's attempt to restore America's self-confidence during the Great Depression. Art Deco and modernism morphed into a style that broadcast the idea of the "New" and inspired civic confidence, as represented in structures such as the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, and the Solomon Courthouse in Nashville. Eventually labeled WPA Moderne, this all-American streamlined Classicism became the public face of an era defined by progress and a sense of security. An extensive chapter on the murals within these structures features elaborate, government-commissioned paintings depicting epochal events in US history and American citizens laboring tirelessly in hopes of a better, brighter future.--amazon.com.

ISBN:

0764352113 (hardback)
9780764352119 (hardback)

Subject:

Cret, Paul Philippe, 1876-1945.
Cret, Paul Philippe,
United States. Work Projects Administration.
Architecture United States History 20th century.
New Deal art.
Architecture États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Architecture History United States 20th century.
Architecture
United States

Form/genre:

History

Holdings:

Location: Library main 298096
Call No.: BIB 244378
Status: Available