Elias M. Grossman — William Street

A downtown canyon in drypoint, made for the WPA — the Federal Art Project stamp is still on the sheet.

The document

A drypoint, undated, from the New York City unit of the Federal Art Project. The sheet still carries its FEDERAL ART PROJECT · NYC · WPA stamp, the artist’s pencil signature and his hand-lettered title. The museum received it as a transfer from the D.C. Public Library. Reproduced complete — nothing trimmed.

About the artist

Elias M. Grossman was born in Kobryn — then the Russian Empire, today Belarus — in 1898, and died in New York City in 1947. The city is his subject: wet asphalt, tenement walls, the light under an arch, cut in a line so fine it exists only in print.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on orders over $75.

Elias M. Grossman · William Street, drypoint · n.d. · Smithsonian American Art Museum · Accession 1967.72.110 · Transfer from D.C. Public Library · Public domain (CC0).