Jungle

Paul Kirtland Mays, Jungle, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.51
Copied Paul Kirtland Mays, Jungle, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, 42 1⁄4 x 75 1/​2in. (107.3 x 191.7cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.51

Artwork Details

Title
Jungle
Artist
Date
1933-1934
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
42 1⁄4 x 751/​2in. (107.3 x 191.7cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — monkey
  • Landscape — forest
  • Animal — deer
  • Landscape — tropic
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — Pennsylvania
Object Number
1965.18.51
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1965.18.51

Artwork Description

A lush, charming scene filled with tropical greenery and beautiful, gentle animals welcomes the viewer of Jungle. This is no scientific study of a foreign land. The blackbuck at the far left is the only identifiable animal; the others are stylized generalizations rather than real species. This is a fantasy jungle, devoid of biting insects and threatening predators. The painting is as delightfully impossible as popular Depression-era jungle movies like the 1932 Tarzan, The Ape Man, featuring Indian elephants alongside African chimpanzees. The frustrated ape at the center of the painting is reminiscent of the chimps in the Tarzan movies. Like the Hollywood products of its day, this painting offers viewers a colorful temporary refuge from the grim realities of Depression-era America. The parallels between canvas and film are no accident. A few years earlier artist Paul Kirtland Mays had painted fantastic visions on the walls of Hollywood movie palaces like the Paramount Theatre and Grauman's Theatre. The artist wrote to the PWAP that his career painting murals in California had been "frustrated or shattered" by the financial crash of 1929. He was delighted that the government’s art program allowed him to work again "as a decorator craftsman."

1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition label

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.