"Still-Life," Robert Duncanson, 1849.

Duncanson (c. 1821-72) was mostly known as a landscape artist of the Hudson River School (and the later, lesser known Ohio Valley School), and still lifes by him are few and far between.

He was the first Black American artist to achieve international renown, and was prominent in abolitionist circles, both in activism and to sell his work.

Self-taught, he first made a living painting portraits, but as his skill and technique grew, and he attracted patrons, he began to focus more on landscapes. He fled to Canada and the UK when the Civil War broke out, and returned to his beloved Cincinnati, Ohio (then an arts hub, called "the Athens of the West") in 1866. He developed dementia (or schizophrenia), possibly as a result of lead poisoning, and passed away in Detroit at the age of 51.

The Taft Museum in Cincinnati now has an artist-in-residence program for contemporary Black American artists in Duncanson's honor.

From the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

#Art #RobertDuncanson #AmericanArt #StillLife #BlackAmericanArtists #BlackHistory

https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/newark-museum-aerial-map-mural-newark-nj/

Only two of the ten murals Arshile Gorky painted while working in the WPA Federal Arts Project for the Newark Airport Administration Building survive.

As has happened with a number of other New Deal artworks, the other eight have been lost or destroyed.

#Art #TwentiethCenturyArt #NewDeal #FederalArtsProject #FAP #WPA #WorksProgressAdministration #ArshileGorky #NewarkAirport #USArt #AmericanArt

13 lutego przypada rocznica urodzin Granta Wooda (1891–1942), amerykańskiego malarza związanego z regionalizmem. Jego „American Gothic” to prawdopodobnie jedno z najbardziej znanych dzieł sztuki w USA. Wood portretował życie na Środkowym Zachodzie z ironią i dbałością o szczegół.

(fot. Wikipedia)
#GrantWood #AmericanArt #regionalizm #malarstwo

"Country Doctor (Night Call)," Horace Pippin, 1935.

I've talked about Pippin (1888-1946) before; he was a self-taught Black American artist who took up art as a sort of therapy after being injured in WWI. He painted scenes of everyday Black American life, and what he lacked in formal training, he made up for with passion, depth, a remarkable eye for design, and a flair for storytelling and depicting people's lives.

Here we have a scene in a wooded area in the midst of a snowstorm....but a man is slowly leading a horse, pulling a wagon, through the storm. It's not just a mere depiction of a winter scene, but a tribute to the resilience and dedication of a rural doctor, trudging through the storm to someone in need.

Pippin's most popular work are his depictions of Black life, many drawn from his childhood. He also did religious paintings and some historical paintings, mostly of his WWI experiences, but also a noted depiction of John Brown going to his execution, based on descriptions from his grandmother, who witnessed it. I find his work delightful.

From the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

#Art #HoracePippin #BlackArtists #Primitive #SelfTaught #OutsiderArt #BlackHistory #AmericanArt

"Popocatepetl, Spirited Morning - Mexico," Marsden Hartley, 1932.

A born Down Easter, Hartley (1877-1943) started off with Maine landscapes, but then traveled to Europe in the early 20th century and discovered Cubism and Modernism in Paris and Berlin. He was tired of doing the same old thing and launched into a new phase of his career.

He traveled around a lot after WWI, including Europe and Mexico in the 30s, where he painted this landscape, inspired by Aztec and Maya lore and art.

He returned to Maine in the late 30s and focused then on local art, depicting the Maine landscape and its people in his own particular way.

He was also a writer, publishing poems, essays, and stories in various magazines, on such topics as art, Maine, and Nova Scotia, where he had close friends who gave him the stable, happy family he lacked as a child.

From the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

#Art #AmericanArt #MarsdenHartley #Modernism #QueerHistory

from Africa, to the slave ship, to the river boats, to the big city, to the jazz clubs

"The Evolution of Swing"
by Raymond Steth, Works Progress Administration artist c.1940

#jazz #swingmusic #swingdancing #ushistory #blackartists #musichistory #blackhistory #1940s #americanart

"Milk - for summer thirst"

Ohio -- Federal Art Project -- 1940 Works Projects Administration -- Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress) -- POS - WPA - OH .01 .M562, no. 1 (C size) [P&P]

#Art #Poster #USArt #AmericanArt #WPA #FAP #WorksProjectsAdministration #WorksProgressAdministration #FederalArtProject #20thCenturyArt #NewDeal #Milk

Enjoyed this Atlas Obscura article about America’s overlooked, forgotten and discarded Post Office murals from the Great Depression. Incredible public art.

“The murals boosted morale by celebrating local industry and historical events”

Every year murals are lost due to the closing or sale of post offices or just from negligence.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/post-office-murals
#Art #AmericanArt #PublicArt

Poster for Cleveland Division of Health -- Ohio : WPA Art Program -- 1940 -- Federal Art Project -- 1 print on board (poster) : silkscreen, color -- Library of Congress Work Projects Administration Poster Collection -- POS - WPA - OH .01 .S785, no. 1 (C size) [P&P]

#USHistory #WPA #WorksProgressAdministration #FederalArtProject #NewDeal #Poster #Swimming #Art #USArt #AmericanArt #20thCenturyArt #Cleveland