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	The Cathedrals of Wall Street, 1939 Florine Stettheimer (American, 1871­1944) Oil on canvas; 60 x 50 in. (152.4 x 127 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gift of Ettie Stettheimer, 1953 (53.24.2)
	Financial Icons The economic boom that occurred in the United States at the end of the 1930s was fueled by Europe's increased need for arms and military equipment at the onset of World War II. Stettheimer locates the center of the financial district at the intersection of Broad and Nassau Streets (where Washington's inauguration was held) and fills the background of the composition with the names of the most important financial institutions of the day: J. P. Morgan and Company, the former United States Subtreasury, Guaranty Bankers Trust, and the New York Clearing House. All of these institutions would reap benefits from patriotic investments in the war effort. << Back

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