1934: A New Deal for Artists

Media - 1964.1.40 - SAAM-1964.1.40_1 - 89419

Ross Dickinson, Valley Farms, 1934

In 1934, Americans grappled with an economic situation that feels all too familiar today. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration created the Public Works of Art Project — the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. Federal officials in the 1930s understood how essential art was to sustaining America’s spirit. Artists from across the United States who participated in the program, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934, were encouraged to depict the American Scene.” The Public Works of Art Project not only paid artists to embellish public buildings, but also provided them with a sense of pride in serving their country. They painted regional, recognizable subjects — ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life — that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community and optimism.

Description

1934: A New Deal for Artists was organized to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Project by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum's unparalleled collection of vibrant artworks created for the program. The paintings in this exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time. George Gurney, curator emeritus, organized the exhibition with Ann Prentice Wagner, curator of drawings at the Arkansas Art Center.

Visiting Information

February 27, 2009 January 3, 2010
Open Daily, 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m
Free Admission

Publications

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1934: A New Deal for Artists
During the Great Depression, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) enlisted artists to capture “the American Scene” in works of art that would embellish public buildings across the country. Although it lasted less than one year, from December 1933 to June 1934, the PWAP provided employment for thousands of artists, giving them an important role in the country’s recovery. Their legacy, captured in more than fifteen thousand artworks, helped “the American Scene” become America seen.

Online Gallery

Media - 1964.1.148 - SAAM-1964.1.148_1 - 1841
Juan Duran
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.49 - SAAM-1964.1.49_1 - 1755
Northern Minnesota Mine
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.74 - SAAM-1964.1.74_2 - 134796
The Farmer’s Kitchen
Dateca. 1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.18 - SAAM-1965.18.18_1 - 2006
Cross Road – Still Life
Dateca. 1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.169 - SAAM-1964.1.169_2 - 129868
River Front
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.79 - SAAM-1964.1.79_3 - 134292
In the Barber Shop
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.75 - SAAM-1964.1.75_1 - 1780
Somewhere in America
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.2 - SAAM-1964.1.2_1 - 45986
Plowing
Date1934
oil on wood: plywood
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.55 - SAAM-1964.1.55_1 - 1760
Festival
Date1934
oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.37 - SAAM-1964.1.37_1 - 61209
Old Pennsylvania Farm in Winter
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.4 - SAAM-1964.1.4_2 - 133472
Coal Tower
Dateca. 1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.49 - SAAM-1965.18.49_2 - 136192
Gold Is Where You Find It
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.154 - SAAM-1964.1.154_1 - 69392
Lumber Industry
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.152 - SAAM-1964.1.152_1 - 1844
Paper Workers
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.44 - SAAM-1964.1.44_2 - 129866
Manhattan Skyline
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.51 - SAAM-1964.1.51_2 - 133473
Lower Manhattan
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.40 - SAAM-1964.1.40_1 - 89419
Valley Farms
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.89 - SAAM-1964.1.89_1 - 89421
Black Panther
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.66 - SAAM-1964.1.66_2 - 89543
Radio Broadcast
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.94 - SAAM-1964.1.94_1 - 1797
Island Dock Yard
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.9 - SAAM-1965.18.9_1 - 1998
Racing
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.43 - SAAM-1965.18.43_1 - 64716
Subway
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.142 - SAAM-1964.1.142_1 - 1839
Third Avenue
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.19 - SAAM-1964.1.19_1 - 1724
Filling the Ice House
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.125 - SAAM-1964.1.125_2 - 136039
Martyr Hill
Dateca. 1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.62 - SAAM-1964.1.62_1 - 67230
Homeward Bound
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.5 - SAAM-1964.1.5_1 - 1716
Waterfront Scene
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.82 - SAAM-1964.1.82_3 - 135552
Chicago Interior
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.114 - SAAM-1964.1.114_1 - 1820
Street Scene
Date1933
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1976.146.18 - SAAM-1976.146.18_2 - 89544
Baseball at Night
Date1934
oil on linen
On view
Media - 1964.1.27 - SAAM-1964.1.27_1 - 87712
Machinery (Abstract #2)
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.196 - SAAM-1964.1.196_1 - 87715
Archer Daniels Midland Elevator
Date1933-1943
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.104 - SAAM-1964.1.104_1 - 87412
Minnesota Highway
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.187 - SAAM-1964.1.187_2 - 133471
Sketch of Old Baltimore Waterfront
Date1934
oil on fiberboard
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.51 - SAAM-1965.18.51_1 - 65195
Jungle
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.46 - SAAM-1964.1.46_1 - 89420
Engine House and Bunkers
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.140 - SAAM-1964.1.140_1 - 69391
Farm
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.119 - SAAM-1964.1.119_1 - 1824
Central Park
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.36 - SAAM-1964.1.36_1 - 69390
The Farm
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.166 - SAAM-1964.1.166_1 - 1854
At Madrid Coal Mine, New Mexico
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.176 - SAAM-1964.1.176_1 - 1861
Road in the Cuyamacas
Dateca. 1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.42 - SAAM-1964.1.42_1 - 1746
Finishing the Cathedral of Learning
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1965.18.48 - SAAM-1965.18.48_1 - 65161
Tenement Flats
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.157 - SAAM-1964.1.157_1 - 1848
Workers on the Cathedral of Learning
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.47 - SAAM-1964.1.47_1 - 1753
Natural Power
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.22 - SAAM-1964.1.22_1 - 1728
Snow Shovellers
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.59 - SAAM-1964.1.59_2 - 129313
The Sky Pond
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.124 - SAAM-1964.1.124_1 - 1828
Parkville, Main Street
Date1933
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.50 - SAAM-1965.18.50_1 - 2036
Golden Gate Bridge
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1964.1.15 - SAAM-1964.1.15_2 - 89542
Skating in Central Park
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.80 - SAAM-1964.1.80_1 - 69828
Mountain Lions
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1962.8.41 - SAAM-1962.8.41_1 - 1649
(Underpass – New York)
Artist
Unidentified (American)
Date1933-1934
oil on photograph on canvas mounted on paperboard
On view
Media - 1964.1.215 - SAAM-1964.1.215_1 - 69393
Winter Scene
Artist
Attributed to Martha Levy
Unidentified
Date1934
oil on fiberboard
Not on view