Juan Duran

Kenneth M. Adams, Juan Duran, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.148
Kenneth M. Adams, Juan Duran, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, 40 1830 18 in. (102.076.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.148

Artwork Details

Title
Juan Duran
Date
1933-1934
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
40 1830 18 in. (102.076.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Mexican
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — New Mexico
  • Portrait male — Duran, Juan — knee length
Object Number
1964.1.148

Artwork Description

Juan Duran, the New Mexican man who posed for this portrait, brings the brilliant light and vivid colors of his native desert landscape into the artist’s studio with him. In works like this one Kenneth Adams, who had left New York to join the artists' colony in Taos, adapted the bold colors and geometrically faceted forms of European modernism to painting New Mexican landscapes and people. In Adams's daring rendition, Duran's hair and mustache are shown as green rather than the gray they probably really were. The bright colors of Duran's clothing are reflected in the skin of his broad, strong hands and blunt face. Even as this powerful man sits smoking with his hands resting on his knees, the lively hues and vigorous brushwork of the painting suggest the energy he will bring to his work when he finishes his cigarette.

1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition label

Works by this artist (5 items)

Kenneth M. Adams, Evening, ca. 1950-1960, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1991.205.2
Evening
Dateca. 1950-1960
oil on canvas
On view
Kenneth M. Adams, Deer Track (Pa-ee-na), after 1924, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1991.205.1
Deer Track (Pa-ee-na)
Dateafter 1924
oil on canvas
On view
Kenneth M. Adams, Taos Indian Woman, ca. 1920-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Arvin Gottlieb, 1993.48.1
Taos Indian Woman
Dateca. 1920-1930
oil on canvas
On view
Harvest
Date1940
lithograph on paper
Not on view

Related Books

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.