From 1929 to 1939, the great depression collapsed the idea of the American dream. As the stock market dropped, companies lost money and 25 percent of citizens lost their jobs, leaving them and their families bankrupt. This depression made families lose hope and dignity as they scraped towns for food and shelter. By 1933, as Franklin Roosevelt took over as president, everyone was searching for change. This search for something better and the continuing pain of citizens was widely represented in this decades art.
Maynard Dixon, Forgotten Man, 1934
Maynard Dixon was an artist at the time who would often paint images that depicted young men from the time period who appeared to be desolate. An example of one of Dixon’s painting, “Forgotten Man,” has a man who is sitting on a busy sidewalk with his head low and a frown on his face. This man is a representation of the average American man at the time. I really like the emotion in this painting, I can’t help but feel for this struggling individual, broken down on the side of the street. The faded, cool toned colors and deep shadowing on this man make it clear that this painting is a sad, rough moment for him. While the straight, poised lines that shape the legs walking behind this man show me that they are some of the population who are employed and headed to work. The clothes appear to be put together and clean, while the feet appear to be moving quite quickly. This leaves these individuals no time to even look at the gloomy man.
Along with art that represented exactly what was happening during the great depression, some art was made in hopes of the great depression ending. In 1933, John Steuart Curry painted “Kansas Corn Field.” This painting was of a tall, bright yellow flourishing stock of corn. This is significant as the painting was made at the end of the great depression’s drought. Curry painted this perfect stock of corn likely with hopes that corn fields would again be this vibrant and full. The colors and movement of this painting makes the stock come to life, the bright yellows and greens make for healthy crops.
John Stueart Curry, Kansas Corn Field, 1933 
Grant Wood, Stone City Iowa, 1930
Lastly, Grant Wood’s landscape paintings showcased the US prior to the great depression. My favorite painting from this decade was Wood’s “Stone City, Iowa.” This painting is a landscape of the town Wood was from. This peaceful scene features rolling hills and a small town after the town became barren from the shutdown of the local quarries and loss of jobs in the area. With industrialization leaving small towns like Stone City behind, Wood was able to show us a prime example of some of those small farming towns that were left behind during the depression. The texture of this painting really draws me into the small town. The bubbly treetops, soft hills, and prickly corn crops peaking out of the dirt makes this image stand out in a very modern way. The bright color pallet and realism techniques makes the environment welcoming and calm.
References
Corn Fields and Greed: John Steuart Curry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://thefineartdiner.blogspot.com/2011/07/corn-fields-and-greed-john-steuart.html
Waiting for the redirectiron… (n.d.). Retrieved from https://moa.byu.edu/hard-times-maynard-dixons-paintings-of-the-great-depression/
Angela's Art 
I enjoyed your entire blog! All of the pieces you chose were very interesting to me and much different from the ones I used in my Great Depression theme. I chose one similar to your first piece and we can feel this man’s emotion, the word I used was empathy. I love how the last two you chose were simply based off a dream or a small motivation that helped the artist, and probably many other people make it through such a difficult time. I can almost feel the senses dreaming of being in such a desolate land and imagining these plants into thin air, smelling them. I never would have thought that people used these as an escape before learning about it through your assignment so I thank you!
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I literally could feel the pain in this picture. The anxiety of being rejected or no help, while those in the background walk past you. The artist was able to capture how the man is slouching. The light areas where the light hits, and the dark contrast to show the shadows and his eye level pointed downward. I think many of us feel like this. Though we might not have had it this bad (The Great Depression) but we all go through things and most often get over looked or not sure how to ask for help.
The corn crops are interesting to me. I like that the artists made the growing crop in a fuzzy texture. The different colors of green for the levels and roots. The lines abstract in away so that you can see multiple crops.
I had a hard time relating Grant Wood’s painting to The Great Depression. It is very bright and looks peaceful.
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The first art piece does a great job at showing the struggle and sorrow from the man who appears to be one of the ones financially affected during this time. The busy feet behind him makes me think there were still a large amount employed and seemed unbothered by the newly homeless. The colors however have a beautiful faded shade to them. The shadows are heavily shown to show depth.
The next two art pieces show similar color vibrancy and emotions. They are both happy and hopeful. Showing bright skies without any struggling people in sight. The second painting have great texture shown on the leaves and stock. Where the third painting has a smooth/blurred texture to it.
Great art pieces shown!
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The art that you chose was very detailed and showed emotions of the time. The pain and sorrow can be seen in the first piece and those who had jobs doing their hardest to keep their jobs. The color and the shade add more to the piece itself. The piece with the corn stalk has a very interesting take. I can see how you can get hope from it, I guess I am just cynical sometimes. I like the third painting and its aerial view, but wonder if it was intentionally blurred or if that image was taken that way. Great job and keep up the good work.
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Beautiful introduction to introduce the era. The first painting does a good job of displaying the great depression, while still showing art themes and soft brush strokes. In the second painting, I like how you described the trees as “bubbly.” Great job on this blog.
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I really enjoyed your analysis of these pieces. You were able to show admiration without using opinionated language – which is very difficult to do. I love the pieces you chose, particularly the first, but I also like how you included more light-hearted pieces when you could have just focused on one theme. All in all, your writing was great.
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