Like many artists looking for work during the Great Depression, Gottlieb found opportunities with the Federal Art Project, a government program that employed artists and funded art initiatives throughout the United States. In 1936, he joined the program’s Graphic Arts Division in New York City, which provided printmakers with training, supplies, and studio space. During his time there, Gottlieb supported labor causes, advocating for the rights of working artists and arguing for the importance of free expression.

A specialist in screen printing, Gottlieb frequently used his art to highlight injustices in the American labor economy, and here he portrays workers of different ages, races, and ethnicities joyously celebrating a collective victory. Although Gottlieb created this work while at the Graphic Arts Division, he never submitted the image to his supervisors for approval, likely out of concern that its pro-unionization message would be censored.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)