New Deal Art: "Blue Monday"

Above: "Blue Monday," an oil panting by August Casciano (1910-1993), made while the artist was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. A description for the painting reads, in part: "The day's wash hangs on clotheslines outside both houses and the basement door of the house on the right is slightly ajar. Despite this evidence of human life, the houses look as though they could be deserted, creating a ghostly feeling that permeates the painting." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.