Artist

Arthur Durston

born Farnsborough, England 1889-died Los Angeles, CA 1938
Born
Farnsborough, England
Died
Los Angeles, California, United States
Biography

Arthur Durston studied in England, France, and San Francisco before settling in Los Angeles. During the 1930s he created somber images of men and women in stark landscapes while employed by the Public Works of Art Project and the Works Progress Administration, which paid him a tiny weekly wage. These New Deal government programs, created during the Great Depression, were intended to offer support to artists, who were proud to be considered a productive part of the American workforce. Durston's paintings evoked the grim reality of the time, and in 1933 one of his canvases was even criticized for being "too depressing from the standpoint of art." (Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1933, A1)

Works by this artist (2 items)

Glenn M. Shaw, The Building of Fort Meigs, 1813 (Mural Study, Perrysburg, Ohio Post Office), ca. 1941, watercolor on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1974.28.41
The Building of Fort Meigs, 1813 (Mural Study, Perrysburg,…
Dateca. 1941
watercolor on fiberboard
Not on view
Glenn M. Shaw, Ore Handling Machinery (mural study, Canton, Ohio Post Office), 1936, watercolor and tempera on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1974.28.327
Ore Handling Machinery (mural study, Canton, Ohio Post…
Date1936
watercolor and tempera on paper
Not on view