Women in Industry No. 3

George von Physter

This graphite study was done around 1940, possibly for a WPA mural or a WWII ad, later printed as a lithograph in an edition of 50 by Lynton Kistler under the title "Hollywood Car" in 1952. Von Physter was a member of the Federal Art Project division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which, founded in 1935 by the American government to relieve the economic damage wrought by the Great Depression. The WPA officially functioned until 1943.

Among the works commissioned by the government were posters, fine prints, murals, and other forms of artwork that would highlight the American way of life. This may have been a preparatory drawing for a mural or poster series highlighting the importance of the women who joined the industrial work-forces when American men and women enlisted in the war effort. One of the advertisements on the train car walls is "Use Horse Sense / Buy War Bonds".