Harlem River Bridges

Elizabeth Olds moved to New York City in 1921 to attend the Art Students League, quickly embracing a Social Realist commitment to representing contemporary society. Between 1925 and 1935 she lived in Europe (with support from a Guggenheim Fellowship), New Hampshire, and finally Omaha, Nebraska, where she made the hardships of the Great Depression her chief subject. Returning to New York in 1935, she served in the graphic division of the Federal Art Project, a government program providing artists with work. At the FAP Olds founded the first Silkscreen Unit, promoting printmaking as an accessible and democratic art practice. Her works from this period capture everyday life around the city, often focused on its factories and industrial zones, as seen here, or calling attention to injustices suffered by the working classes.