Art for the millions : American culture and politics in the 1930s / Allison Rudnick ; with contributions by Kirsten Pai Buick, Max Fraser, Rachel Mustalish
Catalog of an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from September 7th - December 10th, 2023 Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-201) and index
Contents:
Photography credits Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Lenders to the exhibition -- Note to the reader -- Materials, identity, and independence / Rachel Mustalish -- "We artists must act" : left-wing artists and the Great Depression / Max Fraser -- Representational activism and the committee for the negro in the arts / Kirsten Pai Buck -- Materials, identity, and independence / Rachel Mustalish -- Plates -- Leftist politics and labor -- Cultural nationalisms -- The promise of progress -- Notes -- List of plates -- Selected bibliography -- Index -- Photography credits
Summary:
Focusing on the unprecedented dissemination of art and ideas brought about by new technology and government programs, this publication examines the search for artistic identity in the United States from the stock market crash of 1929 that began the Great Depression to the closure of the Works Progress Administration in 1943. During this time of civil, economic, and social unrest, artists transmitted political ideas and propaganda through a wide range of media, including paintings and sculptures, but also journals, prints, textiles, postcards, and other objects that would have been widely collected, experienced, or encountered. Insightful essays discuss but go beyond the era's best-known creators, such as Thomas Hart Benton, Walker Evans, Marsden Hartley, and Georgia O'Keeffe, to highlight artists who have received little scholarly attention, including women and artists of color as well as designers and illustrators. Emphasizing the contributions of the Black Popular Front and Leftist movements while acknowledging competing visions of the country through the lenses of race, gender, and class, Art for the Millions is a timely look at art in the United States made by and for its people. Exhibition: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (07.09-10.12.2023)
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.