A New Deal for Artists 

Conrad Albrizio, "The New Deal Mural" (mural), ca. 1934

 FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration

THE STATE OF AMERICAN ART BEFORE THE NEW DEAL

     In the opening lines of Richard D. McKinzie's The New Deal for Artists (Princeton University Press, 1973), he declares that "the fine arts of painting and sculpture never have never been an important or conscious force in the lives of the vast majority of Americans."  He suggests that the rigors of frontier life were not conducive to an emotional connection to art.  Most Americans didn't have the time, appetite or money for something viewed as fanciful, that didn't serve life's basic needs.  Not surprisingly, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, European tastes and artists defined "true art" for Americans who could afford it.  The sons and daughters of Gilded Age America studied in Europe and consumed its art, literature, and culture; American artists created imitations of the great French and Italian masters.  The wealthiest Americans, oftentimes the "robber barons" of American industry, equated art with "name artists" and exorbitant prices.  

     In particular, McKinzie references the President’s Research Committee on Social Trends, established in 1929 by the newly inaugurated Herbert Hoover; the committee, comprised of a group of prominent social scientists and foundation officials, collected data on leading social institutions and behavior.  The Committee's final product, Recent Social Trends in the United States, was completed in early 1932 and contained 30 chapters and over 1,500 pages.  The subjects ranged from agricultural and forest lands to taxation and public finance to education and the arts.  In its report, the Committee noted a lack of American identity and interest in American art:

"Emergence of a distinctly "American" style in the plastic arts was slow. . . . The Committee found that conflict between native impulse, which was becoming stronger, and foreign influence resulted in art characterized by uncertainty and experimentation.  The Committee also placed the federal government's imprimatur upon what laymen and critics had been saying for years; that sociologically, painting and sculpture were not important, that 'for the overwhelming majority of the American people the fine arts of painting and sculpture, in their non-commercial, non-industrial forms, do not exist.'"

     The Great Depression impacted all walks and industries of American life, including the art community.  Prices for and sales of art plummeted from 1929 to 1932; McKinzie reported that "a 165% market price index for art in 1929 had shriveled to 50 by 1933."  Art importation and the production of artists' supplies took significant hits as well.  However a paradox arose: with wealthy patrons unable to afford art, the Great Depression helped to remove the haughtiness associated with art and art ownership.  Perhaps art could now be brought to the masses.  

Thomas Sully, "Portrait of Blanch Sully" (painting), 1839

Photo courtesy of Terra Foundation for American Art

(Download here)

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, "Note in Red:  The Siesta" (painting), 1884

Photo courtesy of Terra Foundation for American Art

(Download here)

Childe Hassam, "Horse Drawn Cabs at Evening, New York" (painting), ca. 1890

Photo courtesy of Terra Foundation for American Art

(Download here)

Thomas Wilmer Dewing, "Portrait of a Lady Holding a Rose" (painting), 1912

Photo courtesy of Terra Foundation for American Art

(Download here)

THE GENESIS OF A FEDERAL ART PROGRAM:  Inspired by the Mexican Muralism Movement 

     In 1933 the artist George Biddle, a college chum of President Roosevelt, believed that the Federal government could generate widespread growth and interest in public art.  In particular, Biddle was moved by the Mexican government's sponsorship of public murals in the 1920s that conveyed the ideas of the Mexican revolution.  The Mexican Muralism Movement, led by Diego Rivera, promoted pride and nationalism in a country that had gone through a decade of revolution (1910 - 1920), resulting in the end of dictatorial rule and the creation of a constitutional republic.  

     The expressive and vivid murals in public spaces made art accessible to the entirety of Mexican society.  The murals restored the medium to a respected art form, one ripe for social and political messaging.  Most importantly, the murals educated and informed the Mexican people while addressing the pressing issues of cultural identity, politics, oppression, resistance, poverty, hope, and progress. 

     On May 9, 1933, Biddle wrote to President Roosevelt about establishing a similar American mural program to reflect the social revolution of The New Deal.  His correspondence included the following declaration:  

"The Mexican artists have produced the greatest national school of mural painting since the Italian Renaissance. . . . The younger artists of America are conscious as they have never been of the social revolution that our country and civilization are going through."

     Unfortunately for Biddle, his idea ran into trouble after Roosevelt forwarded it to the National Commission of Fine Arts, the highest authority on: 1) the design and location of buildings in Washington, D.C.,  and 2) the selection of public monuments, statues, fountains, etc., funded by the Federal government.  The Commission favored classical architecture and themes for its projects as opposed to works by "mediocre easel painters."  Biddle then joined forces with Edward Bruce, a Treasury Department official, who was an expert on monetary policy as well as an accomplished artist.  

     In November 1933, Bruce, in his capacity as Acting Secretary for the newly-formed Advisory Committee to the Treasury on Fine Arts, presented a proposal for a government funded art program.  Frederick A Delano, President Roosevelt's uncle, chaired the committee that also included Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt's top lieutenant for the rollout of New Deal programs.  Over the next few weeks, Bruce convened meetings in Washington, D.C. with high-ranking government officials, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, to lobby for the federal art program. 

Fernando Real, Los Danzantes de Chalma [The Dancers of Chalma] (fresco), 1922  (Download here)

Jose Clemente Orozco, The Trench, 1926  (Download here)

Diego Rivera, "La Historia de Mexico," 1929 - 1935  (Download here)

Photograph, "George Biddle," 1936

Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution  (Download here)

   

THE PUBLIC WORKS OF ART PROJECT:  A Brief But Noble Experiment

     In December 1933, Hopkins agreed to allocate $1,039,000 from the budget of the newly created Civil Works Administration (CWA) to the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) for artists' reliefEdward Bruce served as the Administrator for the PWAP in Washington, D.C., with Forbes Watson serving as the Technical Director.  Because the CWA had divided the country into 16 regions, the PWAP adopted the same regional structure.  Each region had a Regional Administrator.  A volunteer committee composed of museum curators, painters, and art aficionados directed the art programs.  Bruce and Watson provided the regions with instruction that the artwork should be limited to the "American Scene" as a means to avoid unconventional or provocative public art.

    In his book, Federal Support for the Visual Arts:  The New Deal and Now (New York Graphic Society, Ltd. 1971), Francis V. O'Connor summarized the somewhat paradoxical aim of the PWAP :

"The primary aim of the PWAP was to furnish work for unemployed artists in the decoration of non-Federal public buildings and parks. . . . While the primary purpose of the project was to give employment to needy artists, a dual standard was set up in the selection of those employed:  first, the artist had actually to be in need of employment , and, second, he had to be qualified to produce work which constitute a genuine embellishment of public property.  This dual standard, of course, raised the question of whether PWAP was to be administered as a relief project to help the artist, or as an art project to acquire works of art for the government." 

     Because the CWA was a general employment program, rather than part of the Federal relief administration, the PWAP hired the most talented unemployed artists--as opposed to the most needy artists--to create works of art for public buildings and parks.  This hiring approach would be highly scrutinized and criticized; future legislation for public art programs would stipulate the hiring of a specific percentage of artists from public relief rolls.

     From its inception on December 8, 1933, to its conclusion on June 30, 1934, the PWAP expended $1,312,178; artists received weekly wages of $26.50 to $42.50 as determined by CWA pay scales for skilled craftsmen.  It employed 3,749 artists, and created 15,663 pieces of artwork and craft in a multitude of media, including oils, watercolors, prints, etching, mural and mural sketches, carvings, and sculptures.  The subjects of the artwork--the "American Scene"--reflected an extensive range of styles:  landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, works scenes, and historical scenes.  The majority of the work was placed in tax-supported buildings, schools, hospitals, and museums.  

     Notable artists employed by the PWAP included Victor Arnautoff, Peter Blume, Bernarda Bryson, Paul Cadmus, Burgoyne Diller, Frank Mechau, Herman Maril, and Grant Wood.

"Regional Directors & Washington, D.C. Administrative Staff - PWAP," 1934

Forbes Watson papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution  (Download here)

"Looking at a Map of PWAP 16 Regional Districts," December 1933

L - R: Edward Bruce, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lawrence Robert, Forbes Watson

Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress  (Download here

"Total [PWAP] Disbursements by Region, Dec. 11, 1933 to June 30, 1934" 

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D..C  (Download here

A PUBLIC WORKS OF ART PROJECT GALLERY 

From the Public Works of Art Project, Report of the Assistant Secretary of The Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator

December 8, 1933 - June 30, 1934

"In other words, our figures show that the Government's agreement to employ artists at craftsmen's wages acted as a tremendous stimulant to the artists' creative powers.  It resulted in placing in public building where many citizens, young and old, will be made familiar for the fist time with the contemporary art of their own country, a great many works of permanent educational and aesthetic value.  It enriched the country to an extent that cannot be estimated, and it taught us definitely that some organization like the Public Works of Art project will always deserve the support of an enlightened government."

Frank Mechau, "Horses at Night" (painting), 1934

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Current location: Denver Public Library, Denver, CO

(Download here)

Ernest Norling, "The Timber Bucker" (painting), ca. 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from National Park Service)

(Download here)

Abram Molarsky, "The Storm"(painting), 1934 

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the Newark Museum)

(Download here)

Haldane Douglas, "Warehouses" (painting), ca. 1933 - 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor)

(Download here)

Grant Wood, "Agriculture" (mural), 1934

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

(Download here)

William Schwartz, "Americana (No. 2)" (painting), ca. 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor)

(Download here)

William McVey, "The Bear" (sculpture), 1934

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

(Download here)

Peter Blume, "Beatty's Barn" (painting), 1934

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

(Download here)

Paul Cadmus, "Mother and Child" (painting), 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (bequest of Olin Dows)

(Download here)

Gale Stockwell, "Parkville, Main Street" (painting), 1933

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor)

(Download here)

Lily Ferudi, "Subway" (painting), 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from National Park Service)

(Download here)

Kelly Fitzpatrick, "Watermill (?)" (painting), 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the White House through the General Services Administration)

(Download here)

Herman Maril, "Sketch of Old Baltimore Waterfront" (painting), 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor)

(Download here)

Stanley Wood, "Boulder Dam, Upstream Face 32" (painting), 1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from National Park Service)

(Download here)

Maurice Glickman, "Negro Mother and Child" (sculpture), 1934 

Report of the PWAP, 1934; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

(Download here)

Ila McAfee Turner, "Mountain Lions" (painting), 1934 

Smithsonian American Art Museum (transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor)

(Download here)