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Elevated Station

Date
1936
Material
Wood engraving
Classification
Prints
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 8 1/8 x 10 in. (20.6 x 25.4 cm)
sheet: 11 1/4 x 17 1/2 in. (28.6 x 44.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
281:1943
NOTES
Delicate lines transform an elevated train station into intricate patterns. Fred Becker carved this wood engraving while sitting in a diner in New York’s Greenwich Village. He recalled that during the bitterly cold winter of 1936, he made prints in “cafeterias, libraries, and any place that was warm,” since his apartment lacked reliable heat. Becker later reflected that the Federal Art Project’s Graphic Arts Division “provided me not only with sustenance but an education.” This experience informed his establishment of the print department at Washington University in St. Louis, where he taught from 1948 to 1968.

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