The Great Depression and it's Impact on Art

 The Great Depression

    The Great Depression lasted from years 1929 - 1939 and was a period of economic peril for the United States and around the world. A high market bubble burst in 1929 on the famous "Black Thursday" and caused a massive stock market crash. The crash affected many Americans, leaving them without homes, jobs, or food. With the addition of the dust bowl, the disaster ruined many farmers' livelihoods when the American economy relied heavily on farming. 

    After President Hoover left office in 1933, President Roosevelt was elected in a landslide due to promises to bring back the economy. He followed through with this by enacting the WPA, a program for people without resources to help themselves and their families. This program also supplied artists with government employment programs all across the country, giving us some of America's most interesting art. 

Walker Evans, Political Poster, Massachusetts Villiage, 1929

    While the great deppression influenced many artists that were active in painting, sculptures, and public art, the relatively recent invention of the kodak in 1888 meant that artists were able to express themselves in photographs too. One of my favorite photographs from the great deppression is the Political Poster, Massechusetts Villiage taken by Walker Evans in Massachusetts in 1929. 

    I love this photo, as I feel it tells a story. The poster of President Hoover is folded and stained. I feel this shows the disdain that the American people started to show him after his election in 1928 with the beginning of the Depression. The small and weak looking flower on the window sill backs up the feeling of lost hope,  as it withers and dies. 

James E. Allen, Arch of Steel, 1937

    With President Roosevelt enacting the WPA in 1933, the country got to work on many civil projects, giving millions of people jobs. One of those projects was the Bayonne Bridge (pictured here) that connects Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island. WPA artist James E. Allen was one of the many that documented and made art to create positive images of the progress in American society. 

    I appreciate Allen's use of realism often found in regionalism works, and the attention to detail with the many lines and shades that bring this black and white lithograph to life. It shows what all the American people were able to accomplish in the late 30s and successfully gives the impression of economic growth. 

Stephen Mopope, Red Dancer, 1940

    While not often associated with the Great Depression in America, the Native Americans of the great plains were affected too. Stephen Mopope grew up on an Oklahoma reservation and trained in techniques of painting on hides used for tipis. Among the first Native Americans to do so, Mopope and four other artists attended the University of Oklahoma school of art in the 1920s and to part in exhibitions in the US and overseas. A portfolio of prints produced in pairs contained Red Dancer (seen above). 

    I really appreciate this art piece as it is made with stencils. I feel that the use of stencils is not seen much in typical art. The mixture of solid, straight lines (created by the stencils) and the whisp like shapes of the feathered clothing create a simple but elegant representation of the Native Americans at the time. 

    It is important too that this artwork is done by someone that grew up with the subject matter of his work, as often in history we see many sides of a story through the single eyes of English Americans. 




Citations

“Two Eagle Dancers.” Two Eagle Dancers | National Postal Museum, postalmuseum.si.edu/indiansatthepostoffice/mural2.html.

Great Depression, www.nga.gov/education/teachers/lessons-activities/uncovering-america/great-depression.html.

“Culture and Arts during the Depression.” Culture and Arts in 1930s Washington State, depts.washington.edu/depress/culture_arts.shtml.










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