The prognosis for Jean was serious: flaking; a puncture; deformations; areas of loss; disturbing discoloration. It was clear that after several decades, the painting by American artist Allen Hermes, and one of a collection from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era, needed repair.
Thanks to a generous gift from the Class of 1964, the portrait of a young woman now hangs with 12 other paintings restored to their former vibrancy in the new Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts, part of the exhibit “A New Deal for Artists: Connecting Brooklyn College to Its Past, Present, and Future.”
These paintings, created by artists who were supported by the federal government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA)/Federal Arts Project, are a reminder of the larger legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and the building of the Brooklyn College campus on the former site of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Artists were only some of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans who were hired for WPA projects in the midst of the Great Depression. Said President Roosevelt at the dedication of the college on October 28, 1936, “This project for Brooklyn College is killing two birds with one stone. We are not only putting to work… many thousands of good people who needed work; but we are also improving the educational facilities of this great borough, not just for today but for generations to come.”
“A New Deal for Artists: Connecting Brooklyn College to Its Past, Present, and Future” will be on display at the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts until June 1. To learn more about how to make a charitable donation, contact the Brooklyn College Foundation.
