Contrast
I really like Thomas Hart Benton’s work. His murals were very toonery … whimsical at times and colorful. I like the CAN DO spirit of the WPA style. It is a shame with the federal moneys allotted to state projects recently (to “jump start” economies)… that ART was not more forefront. Sadly, art, somewhere along the line… was deemed unimportant and not worthy of government funding.
Here at home, my brother Patrick was recording a show for Mr. Firedome.
I thought that it might be something interesting. Alas. It was a show about zombies called ” in the flesh” or something like that. What happened to shows about art and education? I’ll bet that instead of zombies, Firedome would rather have recorded that show about Studabakers. Oh well.
I don’t think it’s that the government (you know, we the people) think that art is unimportant. It’s probably a case of scope over importance. In times of recession, art is in some ways MORE important, but not as many can dedicate time/resources to it. In times of plenty, art does come to the forefront but often times is lost in the muddle rush of all the other things that can distract a society during good times.
And what is “WPA”? As an IT-Director conscious of securing data, I can tell you that WPA means “Wi-Fi Protected Access” and is the security protocol for wireless internet access that superseded WEP a few years back. (And WPA2 now has replaced WPA for the most part.) But I don’t think any of that has to do with painting or art styles. *hehe*
Work Projects Administration. I’m not sure about the second word, but it was putting artists to work during the Great Depression (and drawing down money so quite possibly hindering the recovery).
But I don’t see why it can’t be WPA-style with a nod to Thomas Hart Benton mural of monsters drinking coffee.
The reasonable, and probably valid, idea behind the WPA was that it got money into circulation, thus helping the recovery. I don’t know if the building even still exists, but in the ’60s the high school in Los Gatos ()other side of coast range had a WPA mural in the front lobby.
[Now that’s weird, WPA is marked as a misspelling, with one of suggested corrections being WPA.]
Monsters n’ Coffee, killer combo!
WPA beautified America during the depression and kept out-of-work artists working… it funded so many projects and God Bless It. 8.5 million people were put to work during the 8 years of the program. They built bridges, dams, and created art on buildings and public spaces. It was a boost to our cultural experience. I wish we had something more like this today.
I do believe the mural inside the Paso Robles Inn Cafe was done with WPA monies… It is, of course, beautiful.
And sure? Why not monsters in WPA style…? Ha ha!
Randie’s my kinda’ gal!
On an unrelated note, I always get WPA mixed up with UPA. I almost expected her to do a mural with Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoingBoing.
Here in Maine the governor went so far as to take a mural DOWN, and you should have heerd him holler* when he was told that he had to pay back the grant that paid for the mural. (He felt that the mural was too ‘pro labor’ – the mural was on a wall in the Labor Dept….)
The mural has since been but on display elsewhere – near the state house, not far from the governor’s office.
The Auld Grump
*Spelling from Little Orphant Annie –
His Mammy heerd him holler, an’ his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he wuzn’t there at all!
Come the next election that is my hope for our governor, that when they turn those kivvers down….
They’re doing vaguely WPA-like stuff in the current recession, but it’s mostly taking money out of circulation in one part of the economy and pumping it back into another part of the economy. The results are not universally successful. Ah well. People are not perfect.
As for that WPA artwork? The government wants it back!
http://www.artbusiness.com/wpa.html
Dada… UPA… ha! I had to look that up! Mr. Magoo… drinking coffee with a Yeti… I like that.
Grump… too pro labor? Really? Gah!
Rat… Fascinating! Great article… WPA didn’t just do murals… they made posters and things…
Lovely story of the 30’s. Reminds me a lot stylistically of
the Group of 7 artists who defined Canadian art for many years. There are tons of stunning images in the same drawing style that admits mainly of landscapes.
Course, there weren’t that many people in Canada at the time.
http://www.ago.net/the-group-of-seven-and-the-art-gallery-of-ontario
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/canadian/images/AY-Jackson-Winter-Charlevoix-County-1932-33.jpg
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/canadian/images/FranklinCarmichael-Bay-of-Islands-1930.jpg
Hello, Bill C! And welcome to you! I am LOVING the link you sent on the Musee d’art for Ontario…. what a great Museum… I should like to visit that part of Canada… it’s on my list of “to-go’s”…. Montreal, Toronto, the Nova Scotia parts…
And the images you linked to are very much of that WPA style of the 30’s. The group of seven… yes… and I am a fan of that era of art. In fact… the first part of the 20th century is fascinating… along with the Impressionist era. I’d say that the art from the Impressionists to Abstract Expressionism is amazing…
That’s also the era of Grant Wood. I suspect he and several others in that period were heavily influenced by Thomas Eakins. Of course since my training was physics and math, my opinions are those of a dilettante.