The More Things Change...

In the dead of the Great Depression winter of 1933, FDR was inspired by his friend George Biddle who saw the need for artists to have work. As part of his New Deal he created the Public Works of Art Project - the artists benefited. So do we.

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum's 1934: A New Deal for Artists we get to relive the year of 1934 through the expression of over 3000 artists who were part of this project. Destined for public spaces, some of these works have hung in the White House and have been residing in the archive of the Luce Foundation for American Art.

The project lasted the 6 months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934 ; it resulted in over 15,000 works of art. The selected artists were instructed to depict "the American Scene" but it was okay if this theme was sometimes loosely interpreted. This exhibit is divided into several categories along the lines of Country, City, Industry, People, Leisure, and I forget the rest. A Flickr slide show gives us the chance to see all of the paintings online but the colors and the magnitude aren't nearly as good as what you see in person.


Which is too bad since the bright colors in many of them convey a feeling of optimism despite the difficult circumstances that existed at that time. MAD's personal favorite is Baseball at Night by Morris Kantor - it seems to beckon us to take a seat in the stands at what can only be a minor league or semi-professional game. Several years ago, Mr. MAD gave her a print of this painting; it's on the living room wall at the MAD cabin at Rushford Lake. This is the first time I've seen it full size and it's great.

It's good to know that the recently enacted stimulus bill contains $50 million in emergency funding for the National Endowment for the Arts . Hope some of it results in art like this for all of us to see.