Southbound

Artist: Gerardo Belfiore, American (born Italy), 1914–2002
Associated: Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Washington, D.C., active 1935–1943
Date: about 1939
Material: Crayon and tusche lithograph, with scraped highlights
made in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Classification: Prints
Collection: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 12 7/8 x 10 in. (32.7 x 25.4 cm)
sheet: 16 x 11 1/2 in. (40.6 x 29.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 161:1943

NOTES

Standing on a platform of the Broad Street subway, a lone figure awaits the bright light of a rapidly approaching train. Work Projects Administration funds enabled the construction of a southward extension of the line to Snyder Avenue, which opened in 1938. The composition captures the daily routines of moving around the city, an experience Gerardo Belfiore chose to represent in a work produced in a Federal Art Project workshop. In both image and making, the print is a testament to the many ways that government funds supported infrastructure and culture.

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