On May 6, 1935, the W.P.A. was created to help provide economic relief to the citizens of the United States who were suffering through the Great Depression. The Federal Art Project was one of the divisions of the W.P.A., creating over 5,000 jobs for artists and producing over 225,000 works of art for the American people.
Jackson Pollock worked for the W.P.A. Federal Art Project from 1938 to 1942. His painting “No. 5, 1948” sold in 2006 for $140,000,000. Other artists who received public support (and later became hugely famous) were Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Diego Rivera, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.
The painting at the top of this page is currently for sale on eBay for $3,500. The painting below by Willem de Kooning sold in 2006 for $137,500,000.
I like the eBay painting better, don’t you?