What is a WPA poster?

WPA, or Work Projects Administration posters were a government program from 1936 to 1943 that supported the arts, health and educational programs. More than 2000 posters are said to exist. You can shop a collection of WPA posters from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

Wpa Posters

John Stuart Mid Century Chair

Modern Mexican Art

Antonio PetruccelliArt Week Poster Design American Scene Modern c. 1930s WPA Era Illustration, c. 1930s

$7,500

H 22 in W 17 in

Art Week Poster Design American Scene Modern c. 1930s WPA Era Illustration

By Antonio Petruccelli

Located in New York, NY

Art Week Poster Design American Scene Modern c. 1930s WPA Era Illustration Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) Art Week 22 X 17 inches Gouache on board, c. 1930s Signed lower right Un...

Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board

Jo CainUN Poster Design American Scene Mid 20th Century Modernism WPA World Peace, c. 1945

$29,500

H 30 in W 25 in D 2 in

UN Poster Design American Scene Mid 20th Century Modernism WPA World Peace

By Jo Cain

Located in New York, NY

UN Poster Design American Scene Mid 20th Century Modernism WPA World Peace Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) We Are All Members of the Human Race: UN Poster Proposal 21 x 16 inches Tempera on b...

Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Egg Tempera, Board

Adolfo MexiacPOSTER SIZE MEXICAN LINOCUT - DESPERTAR (Awakening), 1960

$850Sale Price|32% Off

H 19.25 in W 27.5 in

POSTER SIZE MEXICAN LINOCUT - DESPERTAR (Awakening)

By Adolfo Mexiac

Located in Santa Monica, CA

$1,250 Mexican Prints, WPA, Labor, Woodcuts, Posters, Politcal.

Category

1960s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Linocut

Charles VerschuurenTouchdown, Early Football Player being tacked, 1925

$28,000

H 12.75 in W 10 in

Touchdown, Early Football Player being tacked

By Charles Verschuuren

Located in Miami, FL

He moved to Cleveland in 1922 and then to New York, where he would illustrate 380 covers for the Brooklyn Eagle, design posters for the WPA,

Category

1920s Cubist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Charles VerschuurenFootball Game Brooklyn Eagle's Sunday Magazine Cover, 1920 - 1929

$28,000

H 12.5 in W 10.5 in

Football Game Brooklyn Eagle's Sunday Magazine Cover

By Charles Verschuuren

Located in Miami, FL

He moved to Cleveland in 1922 and then to New York, where he would illustrate 380 covers for the Brooklyn Eagle, design posters for the WPA,

Category

1920s Cubist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Recent Sales

AnonymousVintage WPA Work Program Poster Mid-20th Century Social Realism American Scene, 1936

Sold

H 33 in W 33 in

Vintage WPA Work Program Poster Mid-20th Century Social Realism American Scene

Located in New York, NY

Vintage WPA Work Program Poster Mid-20th Century Social Realism American Scene USA Work Program / WPA Color lithograph poster, paper Sight: 31½x31½ inches Framed: 33 x 33 inches U...

Category

1930s American Realist More Prints

Materials

Paper, Ink, Lithograph

Let The Spirit Live, WPA Poster Design NRA Illustration Mural Modernist Woman, 1930s

Sold

H 31 in W 25 in

Let The Spirit Live, WPA Poster Design NRA Illustration Mural Modernist Woman

Located in New York, NY

Monogrammed lower right Vintage frame Likely a design for a WPA poster, note the NRA (National Recovery Administration) references.

Category

1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

People Also Browsed

Frank SchottWallscape IV ( New York ) - abstraction of urban textures and palimpsest colors, 2017

$4,400

H 48 in W 72 in

Wallscape IV ( New York ) - abstraction of urban textures and palimpsest colors

By Frank Schott

Located in San Francisco, CA

WALLSCAPE IV by Frank Schott from a series of photographic observances capturing urban textures and wallscape color palettes 48 x 72 inches / 122cm x 182cm signed edition of 7 27 ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée

Robert DelaunayDelaunay, La Tour aux Rideaux (Habasque 720-728), Allo! Paris! (after), 1926

$3,995

H 11 in W 9 in

Delaunay, La Tour aux Rideaux (Habasque 720-728), Allo! Paris! (after)

By Robert Delaunay

Located in Southampton, NY

Lithograph on vélin d’Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: From the volume, Allo! Paris!, 1926. Published by Éditions des ...

Category

1920s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Georges RouaultLA PARADE, 1932

$1,100Sale Price|43% Off

H 10.5 in W 11.625 in

LA PARADE

By Georges Rouault

Located in Santa Monica, CA

GEORGES ROUAULT (1871 – 1958) La PARADE 1932 (CR.203, W.211) color etching and aquatint 1932. Edition 270. Frontispiece from “Cirque”. Signed in plate as issued. 10 ½ x 11 5/8”. O...

Category

1930s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

Leonard FreedPolicewoman Playing Tag, New York City, Gelatin Silver Photograph, 16x20, Signed, 1978

$3,500

H 16 in W 20 in

Policewoman Playing Tag, New York City, Gelatin Silver Photograph, 16x20, Signed

By Leonard Freed

Located in New york, NY

Policewoman Playing Tag, New York City, 1978 by Leonard Freed, is a 16” x 20” gelatin silver photograph from the photographer's Police Work series and book. The photograph from the e...

Category

1970s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Jeroen AllartAirplane in landscape - landscape painting, 2013

$6,000

H 39.38 in W 39.38 in D 0.79 in

Airplane in landscape - landscape painting

By Jeroen Allart

Located in New York, NY

This beautiful painting by Jeroen Allart is part of his minimalist landscape and animal painting he did in his home country the Netherlands. 'A farm stands before you on the horizon....

Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Jo CainUNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC, c. 1940

$33,000

H 31 in W 43 in D 2 in

UNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC

By Jo Cain

Located in New York, NY

UNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) "Union Square" 24 x 36 inches Oil on canvas, c.1940s Signed lower center. A ...

Category

1940s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Boat Spain Oil on Canvas Painting, Photorealist, Framed, 1990s, 1991

$542

H 24.02 in W 19.69 in

Boat Spain Oil on Canvas Painting, Photorealist, Framed, 1990s

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Signed Adolfo Perez Frame size 75x64 cm.

Category

1990s Photorealist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

George Pearse EnnisIndustrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social Realism, 1918

$33,000

H 56 in W 47 in

Industrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social Realism

Located in New York, NY

Industrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social Realism George Pearse Ennis (American, 1884-1936) "Forging a Gun Tube #1" 46 x 37 inches Oil on canvas Sign...

Category

1910s American Modern Interior Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cecil Crosley BellBrooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern WPA, c. 1930s

$25,000

H 39 in W 27 in D 2 in

Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern WPA

By Cecil Crosley Bell

Located in New York, NY

Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern WPA Cecil C. Bell (American, 1906-1970) Brookyn Bridge amid the NYC Waterfront 35 ½ x 23 ½ inches Oil on Bo...

Category

1930s American Realist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Jose Clemente OrozcoSCARCE EARLY OROZCO - CABEZA DE MUJER -, 1929

$1,800

H 14 in W 10 in

SCARCE EARLY OROZCO - CABEZA DE MUJER -

By Jose Clemente Orozco

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (1883 – 1949) CABEZA DE MUJER, ( Woman's Head: Mexican Woman) 1929 (Orozco 9) Lithograph, signed and numbered 23/50. in pencil. Printed by George Miller image 1...

Category

1920s Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Anton RefregierDISCOVERY OF GOLD - Very Large Serigraph - WPA Artist - California Murals, 1949

$1,250

H 23.5 in W 21.75 in

DISCOVERY OF GOLD - Very Large Serigraph - WPA Artist - California Murals

By Anton Refregier

Located in Santa Monica, CA

ANTON REFREGIER (1905 – 1979) DISCOVERY OF GOLD, 1949. Color serigraph. Signed and numbered in pencil, edition of 90. Image 23 ¼ x 21 ¾" Large sheet, 29 3/4 x 25 ¼”. Printed title...

Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

Jose Clemente OrozcoPROLETARIANS, 1935

$4,500

H 12.75 in W 16.75 in

PROLETARIANS

By Jose Clemente Orozco

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (1893 - 1949) PROLETARIANS (aka Basurero, Scavengers ) 1935 (Orozco 27) lithograph, One of 88 signed and numbered of a total edition of 133, (+ 42 unnumbered a...

Category

1930s Other Art Style Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Leon Bibel'Unemployed Marchers' — American Modernism, WPA, c. 1938

$2,600

H 11.25 in W 13.25 in

'Unemployed Marchers' — American Modernism, WPA

By Leon Bibel

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Leon Bibel, 'Unemployed Marchers', 2-color lithograph, c. 1938, edition 25. Signed, titled, and numbered '2/25' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression on off-white, wove paper, w...

Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Fishing Port Essaouira, Morocco - Oil on Canvas, Signed, 2010, 2015

$542

H 24.02 in W 19.69 in

Fishing Port Essaouira, Morocco - Oil on Canvas, Signed, 2010

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Signed Adolfo Perez Frameless

Category

2010s Photorealist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Jose Clemente OrozcoMACHINES, 1935

$4,500

H 12 in W 17 in

MACHINES

By Jose Clemente Orozco

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (Mexican, 1883-1949) MACHINES, (aka Dos cabezas y Maquinas, Dos Cabezas, Maquinas) 1935 (Orozco 26) Lithograph. Image 12 x 17 inches. Full margins, sheet 16 x 2...

Category

1930s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

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Wpa Posters For Sale on 1stDibs

There is a broad range of wpa posters for sale on 1stDibs. Browse a selection of modern, abstract or Impressionist versions of these works for sale today — there are 48 modern, 3 abstract, 2 contemporary and 1 Impressionist examples available. Wpa posters available on 1stDibs span a range of colors that includes black, gray, beige, blue and more. William Gropper, Ben Shahn, Alexander Raymond Katz, Hyman Bloom and Anthony Velonis took a thoughtful approach to this subject that are worth considering. The range of these distinct pieces — often created in paint, oil paint and canvas — can elevate any room of your home. Large wpa posters can be an attractive addition to some spaces, while the smaller iterations available — each spanning 4 inches in width — may make for a better choice for a more modest living area.

How Much are Wpa Posters?

The average selling price for wpa posters we offer is $2,800, while they’re typically $199 on the low end and $54,000 for the highest priced.

Questions About Wpa Posters

What is a WPA poster?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
WPA, or Work Projects Administration posters were a government program from 1936 to 1943 that supported the arts, health and educational programs. More than 2000 posters are said to exist. You can shop a collection of WPA posters from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

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