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https://blanton.emuseum.com/objects/14537/dance-marathon

Although subtlety is not one of the virtues of Philip Evergood's 1934 "Dance Marathon", viewers today might well require an explanation of what dance marathons were in order to understand the picture.

Once the subject is clarified, the picture provides an excellent starting point for thinking about art and the Great Depression and the possibilities and problems of "political" art then and now.

"Dance Marathon" also offers a way into some important literature of the twenties and thirties, since a dance marathon is central to hardboiled writer Horace McCoy's 1935 novel "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?".

#DanceMarathon #PhilipEvergood #Art #USArt #AmericanArt #20thCenturyArt #1930s #GreatDepression #HoraceMcCoy #TheyShootHorsesDontThey #SocialRealism

Guy reveals why the ‘old man praying’ painting you see may not be what it seems

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/prayer-painting-true-story-ex1/

A seemingly innocent painting of a farmer and family member caused outrage in 1930

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/a-seemingly-innocent-painting-of-a-farmer-and-family-member-caused-outrage-in-1930/

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I was sitting in an Austin Starbucks last weekend, absorbed in the recently published "New Deal Art: Culture and Crisis in the Great Depression" by John P. Murphy.

"Hello." A smiling man was standing by my table. "I'm the author of the book you're reading."

What a delightful coincidence! We sat together and chatted for a while about the book, the thirties, and the exhibition of American modernist art at the UT Blanton Museum where he was going to be giving a talk.

Even though I was already planning to post a few thoughts on the book, the chance meeting has provided me with additional impetus.

#NewDealArt #AmericanArt #NewDeal #ArtHistory #JohnPMurphy #Coincidence #USHistory #20thCenturyArt #1930s #ChanceMeeting

"Untitled (Yellow House with Yellow Roses)," Matilda Browne, after 1918.

Browne (1869-1947) was an American Impressionist artist, and a noted member of the Old Lyme, CT artists' colony...in fact, the only female painter they took seriously.

She showed talent as a child, and luckily was a neighbor of Hudson School painter Thomas Moran, who taught the young Matilda and encouraged her gifts. By age 12 she had a painting accepted as part of an exhibit at the American Academy of Design.

She traveled Europe, where she learned from many significant painters, and returned to the US where she earned a reputation as a skilled artist of landscapes, animals, and florals. She also married author Frederick Van Wyck, and had a long and successful career.

Here's the house she lived in at Old Lyme, in the summer with the roses blooming...

Happy Flower Friday!

From a private collection.

#Art #MatildaBrowne #Impressionism #AmericanArt #WomenArtists #FlowerFriday

"Moonlight Seascape, Gloucester Harbor," Mary Blood Mellen, c. 1870s.

Mellen (1819-86) was the major female member of the Hudson River School, a group of artists of the 19th century who specialized in sweeping Romantic-style landscapes of North America.

Born in Massachusetts, she learned to paint early on, but her marriage to the Universalist Rev. Mellen was a turning point. The couple became acquainted with Fitz Henry Lane, a great painter and teacher, and through him she developed her skill and talent.

New England, especially the coastal areas of Massachusetts and Maine, were her specialty, including a number of marine subjects. Most of her work is undated so we can only guess at when it was painted, but it is known she collaborated with Lane several times.

After her husband's death in 1866 she moved to Hartford, CT, supporting herself with her work, which was evidently popular. Her passing from typhoid generated a number of complimentary obits, praising her work.

From a private collection.

#Art #MaryBloodMellen #HudsonRiverSchool #AmericanArt #WomenArtists #Moonlight