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

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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 - 1965.18.43 - SAAM-1965.18.43_1 - 64716
Subway
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.40 - SAAM-1964.1.40_1 - 89419
Valley Farms
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.36 - SAAM-1964.1.36_1 - 69390
The Farm
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.22 - SAAM-1964.1.22_1 - 1728
Snow Shovellers
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1971.447.18 - SAAM-1971.447.18_1 - 51973
School’s Out
Date1936
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 1965.18.48 - SAAM-1965.18.48_1 - 65161
Tenement Flats
Date1933-1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.79 - SAAM-1964.1.79_3 - 134292
In the Barber Shop
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1964.1.15 - SAAM-1964.1.15_2 - 89542
Skating in Central Park
Date1934
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 1976.146.18 - SAAM-1976.146.18_2 - 89544
Baseball at Night
Date1934
oil on linen
On view
Media - 1970.35.7 - SAAM-1970.35.7_1 - 3600
Scenes of American Life (Beach)
Date1941-1947
dry pigment in beeswax emulsion on canvas
On view