New Deal Art: "Restaurant 4pm"

Above: "Restaurant 4pm," an oil painting by Bendor Mark (born "Bernard Marcus," 1912-1995), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1935. According to a biography on the website of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Bendor Mark... devoted most of his art to political statements... In 1937 he painted a series condemning the exploitation of mine workers and exhibited one of the scenes at the 1939 New York World’s Fair... During World War II he prepared classified drawings for army contractors and when the fighting ended continued to work as a graphic artist... Around 1955 his work began to be rejected from exhibitions, and he consequently withdrew from the public eye. Thereafter his political paintings became increasingly satirical." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.