Experience America

Media - 1965.18.43 - SAAM-1965.18.43_1 - 64716

Lily Furedi, Subway, 1934, Smithsonian American Art Museum

The 1930s was a heady time for artists in America. Through President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the federal government paid them to paint and sculpt and urged them to look to the nation’s land and people for subjects. For the next decade — until World War II brought support to a halt — the country’s artists captured the beauty of the landscape, the industry of America’s working people, and a sense of community shared in towns large and small despite the Great Depression.

Description

Many of the paintings in Experience America were created in 1934 for a pilot program designed to put artists to work; others were produced under the auspices of the WPA (Works Progress Administration), which followed. The thousands of paintings, sculptures, and murals placed in schools, post offices, and other public buildings stand as a testimony to the resilience of Americans during one of the most difficult periods in U.S. history. This display is drawn entirely from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection. SAAM holds the largest collection of New Deal art in the world.

Visiting Information

1st floor South
Ongoing
Open Daily, 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m
Free Admission

Publications

1934_500.jpg
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

Lily Furedi, Subway, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.43
Subway
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Ross Dickinson, Valley Farms, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.40
Valley Farms
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Kenjiro Nomura, The Farm, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.36
The Farm
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Jacob Getlar Smith, Snow Shovellers, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.22
Snow Shovellers
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Allan Rohan Crite, School's Out, 1936, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.18
School’s Out
Date1936
oil on canvas
Not on view
Millard Sheets, Tenement Flats, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.48
Tenement Flats
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
On view
Ilya Bolotowsky, In the Barber Shop, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.79
In the Barber Shop
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Agnes Tait, Skating in Central Park, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.15
Skating in Central Park
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Morris Kantor, Baseball at Night, 1934, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Morris Kantor, 1976.146.18
Baseball at Night
Date1934
oil on linen
On view
Gertrude Goodrich, Scenes of American Life (Beach), 1941-1947, dry pigment in beeswax emulsion on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1970.35.7
Scenes of American Life (Beach)
Date1941-1947
dry pigment in beeswax emulsion on canvas
On view