Louis
Schanker's time with the WPA was divided between the Mural division and
the Graphics Division. He was an artist and supervisor.
Between 1937 and 1942 he did many woodcuts some of which were directly
supported by the WPA while others were created during the time while he
was doing murals. In the catalog from a 1943 one man show held at
the Brooklyn Museum in New York, Una Johnson, curator said of Schanker,
"In all of his work he seeks to express new relationships between
organic and geometric forms and objects in motion. The thrust and
counter thrust of movement, whether in a polo game or in a repeated theme
of music, take on fresh graphic meaning and enjoy free range of
expression. An admirably independent artist, he aspires to impart to
the observer a sense of participation, and to interpret in abstract but
highly personal terms the life about him.
These woodcuts were all in the 1943 Brooklyn Museum
Show,
"ABSTRACTIONS The Woodblock Color Prints of Louis Schanker."
Aerial Act 1940 12 x
14 in
(Smithsonian Museum)
Football Players 1941
12 x 14 in
(Smithsonian Museum)
Indian Dance 1941 12 x 16 in
(Smithsonian Museum)
Handball Players 1941
12 x 14 in
(Smithsonian Museum)
Study in Green and Black 1941 10 x 14 in
(Smithsonian Museum)
Three Men On Horseback 1938 10 x 13 in
Musical Clowns 1939 11.5 x 15 in
Hockey Players 1940 14 x 12 in
Football 1941 8 x7.5 in
Skaters 1941 8 x 14 in
Composition With Figures 1941 8 x 14 in