Adagio Dance

Claire Millman Mahl

Claire Mahl was involved in the New York WPA-FAP printmaking project, creating over 20 separate images, all in editions of under 25. There were not a lot of color lithographs done through the WPA-FAP, which existed between 1935 and 1939. The New York Graphic Arts Division began in 1936 and functioned for around 2 years, producing some 3,000 original prints. Fine Art appraiser C. van Northrup catalogued only 134 separate color lithograph images by 44 printmakers done in the New York project. Mahl did at least two, "Adagio Dance" and "Dancer Resting", which were not catalogued. Most of the color lithography was supervised by WPA printmaker Russell Limbach. Because of the new demand for color images and the difficulty of producing color lithographs the WPA printmakers developed the less complicated commercial process of silkscreening (serigraphy) to become a Fine Print medium.

By the late 1930s Claire Mahl (later Claire Mahl Moore) had established herself as a Modernist printmaker in the New York art scene, having studied at the Art Students League and worked as a printmaker for the Federal Art Project. Additionally, at the urging of fellow artist Jackson Pollock, in 1936 she became part of the new printmaking group at the David Alfaro Siqueiros 'Experimental Workshop' - a brief-lived venture as Siqueiros enlisted in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. This proved to be an important chapter in the evolution of Mahl's work from straight-forward representation to a more expressive style.

By the time she created "Adagio Dance" the Great Depression had been in full swing for nearly a decade. Though she often addressed the socioeconomic struggles of the time through her work, she would occasionally meditate on those things which brought hope to the masses - dancers, musicians, and everyday human connection. In the late 1930s Mahl had become comfortable with the lithographic process and her lines had loosened and were more expressive, and she began introducing more color into her prints. Here, she captures two dancers mid-performance, using rose, mustard, and cerulean to add just enough flair to the scene without overdoing it, keeping the composition clean yet full of movement.