Art in the Great Depression

 

Art in the Great Depression

    The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn that began in the United States following the stock market crash of October 1929. It lasted through the 30's which had devastating effects including unemployment, banks failed, and millions of people lost their savings, home and livelihoods. This post will explore how the expression of art became a powerful way to express hope, resilience and the need for change during a difficult time. 

Departure of the Joads

By: Thomas Hart Benton 

        The artist Benton focused on the realism that reflected the struggles and resilience of everyday Americans during the time of the depression. The Departure of the Joads was created in 1941 which captured the hardships with a touch of empathy and the power of these moments for the future.  The painting has little color which I feel sets the tone for the theme of the blog as well as what lies inside the shadows of the painting. There is a struggling of an Oklahoma family that was forces westward due to the Dust Bowl and economic ruin. The departure scene has a theme of displacement, resilience and the enduring strength of a family during the experiences that had to endure. I have never been to Oklahoma but knowing what we were taught about the Dust Bowl that it was not going to be a place for crops to grow and no jobs where they had nothing else to do but flea everything they knew, I could not even imagine. 

As in a reflection in the work, Benton uses composition to emphasize the Joad's departure as both monumental and intimate. A family loading a beat-up truck, surrounded by sparce and decollate farmland which is a visual symbol of economical and environmental collapse this painting was trying to touch on. The figures are created out of shadows and lines yet seem so realistic in capturing the emotion and fatigue. The curving of the lines lead the viewers eye form the figures to the open horizon, possibly touching on what the future might bring in the open sky's as they drive away. The color palette Benton's used is earthy and dusky browns which really makes it look so dry and brings emotion to the viewer. Another aesthetic art elements is composition and placement brings in a dynamic arrangement draws focus on the Joads that makes me as a viewer empathize on their journey. 

Machinery and Large Scale Industry 46

By: Hugo Gellert

        I feel that this piece by Gellert, painted in 1933, is more of a striking and impactful piece on the political side while also being socially conscious art reflecting the industrial and economic landscape of the Great Depression era. American artists during this time were using what they knew best and confronted the effects of poverty and unemployment. After some research, Gellert was also an activist during those times and was one of the most vocal artistic critic of inequality in industrial America. The piece Machinery and Large Scale Industry was apart of a series called Capital in Pictures which exposed the dehumanizing nature of modern industry and its connection to economic disparity. The artwork critiques the vast gap between working class and the mechanical imagery to suggest how laborers were put in inhumane economic system. 

    The piece emphasizes how there was a social balance between the deepened inequality and how it was so powerful during the Depression-era art. The stark blacks and white seem to emphasize the oppressive power of machinery during those times and the conditions that was put on the backs of the Americans that had to basically be forces to do anything to keep families alive and well the best they could. The oversized machines overpower the workers to scale is a visual marker of the imbalance of power. There was also emotional markings of the stark and rigid composition that evokes some tension and coldness creating such a strong emotional told that could be seen by any viewer to confront the uncomfortable truths about the industrial society during economic collapse. The bold graphic style aligns with his activist mission that I have read about which makes the works visually compelling to viewers to confront the uncomfortable truths during those hard times. I chose the work because I had grandparents that went through the Great Depression times, who had to grow up with their parents who had to hold up America the best they could, but did shape my grandparents and their generation to be in a different mindset truly.

Apple Vendor

By: Barbara Stevenson

        I feel this piece adds a little different light on on the impact of the Great Depression but also highlights the economic collapse and the focus on the everyday person trying to survive during this time. The Apple Vendor was painted  in the 1930's. so right in the heart of the great impacts of the rough times. Unemployment and poverty forces many into makeshift jobs, like selling apples on the street, to just merely survive. The paining captures the moment of quiet perseverance of the seller which I feel the streets were filled with people just like depicted, which $.05 for a single apple feels like something we would never see again, hopefully. The lines and textures, the folded hands with the pipe and mustache with his head hanging low, all shaded with a sight of tender quality contrasts with the harsh reality. Composition is that the apple vendor is centered, making the emotional heart of the image and draws in the viewers empathy. The emotion and tone that is set is that they are all truly survivors of the times and that there was so much persistence. 

    The colors bring some light to everything that is set in the background, of hazy skies filled with factories, lone families wandering the streets after probably getting off work to buy an apple with what they probably just the amount they made for the day. Everything else surrounding the characters is grey, and that is seen in many other paintings during these times as there was no money to put into the surroundings and everyone was doing whatever they could to survive in a cold and somewhat cruel world. The person selling the apples probably could not get a job in the factories, lost their job, or had just gotten off and was trying to make some more money before going home. There are so many different options, all pretty much leading the viewer to feel the same way about the situations they had to be there, about resilience to keep going forward. 

Citations

Benton, Thomas Hart. “Departure of the Joads, from the Grapes of Wrath.” The Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/40135/departure-of-the-joads-from-the-grapes-of-wrath.

Ronald. “Art and the Great Depression.” Great Depression, 2009, website. 

Gellert, Hugo. “Hugo Gellert: Machinery and Large-Scale Industry: Prolongation of the Working Day.” Hugo Gellert | Machinery and Large-Scale Industry: Prolongation of the Working Day | Whitney Museum of American Art, 2017, https://whitney.org/collection/works/50241.

Stevenson, Barbara. “Apple Vendor.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2005, https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/apple-vendor-23048.