The WPA & the Golden Age · Reading & the Stage
Gala puppet circus
Federal Theatre Project, Work Projects Administration (California), 1938
What it is
Produced in California for the Federal Theatre Project, this silkscreen poster is dated by the Library of Congress only as between 1936 and 1941.
Why it matters
The whole design rests on a single element — the head of a clown — sized large and printed in the flat, unmodulated colour that screen printing rewards. It is a good example of the WPA poster shops' habit of solving a busy subject with one bold face.
What to notice
One clown's head, screened in flat circus colour, carries an entire Federal Theatre puppet show.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- Theater poster
- Poster published
- Federal Theatre Project, Work Projects Administration (California), 1938
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN98517715 (cph.3f05526)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. government program work (WPA Federal Art Project), any year. Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
