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Rural Electrification Administration, Light

Lester Beall American
1937
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
One of Roosevelt’s key infrastructure plans was to bring electricity to agrarian areas by establishing the Rural Electrification Administration, which lent funds to electric cooperatives run by local farming communities. Beall was commissioned to create three sets of posters advertising the agency. This is one of six posters from the first set. The simple but highly effective designs announce their modernity in a similar manner as streamlined industrial design. The posters also evoke American identity in their color palette and rural subject matter.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Rural Electrification Administration, Light
  • Artist: Lester Beall (American, Kansas City, Missouri 1903–1969 Brookfield, Connecticut)
  • Date: 1937
  • Medium: Screenprint
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 39 7/8 × 30 1/8 in. (101.3 × 76.5 cm)
    Framed: 43 3/4 × 33 3/4 in. (111.1 × 85.7 cm)
    Base: 41 × 31 1/4 in. (104.1 × 79.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Merrill C. Berman Collection, Rye, N.Y.
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints