In 1934, Americans grappled with an economic situation that feels all too familiar today. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration created the Public Works of Art Program – the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. Federal officials in the 1930s understood how essential art was to sustaining America’s spirit. Artists from across the United States who participated in the program, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934, were encouraged to depict “the American Scene.” The Public Works of Art Program not only paid artists to embellish public buildings, but also provided them with a sense of pride in serving their country.
Ross Dickinson – Valley Farms 1934, oil on canvas The Smithsonian American Art Museum
They painted regional, recognizable subjects—ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life—that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community and optimism. On view through 3 January, 2010.
1934: A New Deal for Artists celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Program by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s unparalleled collection of vibrant artworks created for the program. The paintings in this exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time. George Gurney, deputy chief curator, organized the exhibition with Ann Prentice Wagner, curatorial associate.
Book
A catalogue, fully illustrated in color and co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and D Giles Ltd. in London, features an essay by Roger Kennedy, historian and director emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; individual entries for each artwork by Ann Prentice Wagner; and an introduction by the museum’s director Elizabeth Broun. The book is available online and in the museum store for $49.95 (softcover $34).
Flickr Group
The Museum has created a Flickr group to share the nearly 400 artworks and related objects dated 1934 from its collection. New images are added each week. The group contains a set with the paintings on view in the exhibition, and images added by the public who join the group. Check out the growing list of images, comment on your favorites, or add your own images to the group!
Picturing the 1930s
This educational Web site, created by the Museum in collaboration with the University of Virginia, allows online visitors to explore the 1930s through paintings, artist memorabilia, historical documents, newsreels, period photographs, music, and video in a virtual, 3-D movie theater. Visitors to the site can use these materials to create a documentary video and submit it to the virtual theater. New content will debut throughout the spring for each of the eight theme rooms—The Country, The Depression, Industry, Labor, American People, Leisure, The City, and The New Deal.
The Museum’s blog Eye Level
Read exhibition-related blog posts including, 1934 All Over Again, Ray Strong Paints the Golden Gate Bridge, and On “1934,” a Poem by Philip Levine.
National Tour
The exhibition will begin a three-year national tour in 2010. Confirmed venues include the Frick Art & Historical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (January 30, 2010 – April 25, 2010); the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Fort Wayne, Indiana (May 21, 2010 – August 22, 2010); The Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Florida (February 3, 2011 – May 1, 2011); the Oklahoma City Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (May 26, 2011 – August 21, 2011); the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama (September 24, 2011 – January 8, 2012); the Muskegon Museum of Art in Muskegon, Michigan (February 16, 2012 – May 6, 2012); and the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine (October 25, 2012 – January 20, 2013).
Smithsonian American Art Museum
MRC 970 Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
americanart.si.edu
