John Steuart Currys Hoover and the Flood: Painting Modern History - Hardcover

Eldredge, Charles C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807830879 ISBN 13: 9780807830871

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007

Synopsis

In 1940, John Steuart Curry painted a scene of Herbert Hoover directing relief efforts after the Mississippi River flood of 1927 as part of a series of paintings depicting modern American history commissioned by Life magazine. In this in-depth case study, Charles Eldredge examines the story of the artist and his painting as well as the American cultural and political era in which it was made.

Eldredge asks several provocative questions. Why did Curry, an artist associated with his native Kansas, choose to depict a subject from the Mississippi Delta? As a painter of nineteenth-century or contemporary agrarian scenes, what prompted Curry to select a specific historical event rather than a more generalized statement of American life? Who was the presumed audience, and what role did it have in the painting's creation? Because of its position in the artist's career, its role in a notable publishing venture, and its appearance at a crucial political moment, Hoover and the Flood provides a revealing look at American art and culture--both political and journalistic--of 1940.

About this title

Book Description:

"Represents a real advance in Curry studies and serves as a model of the best in art-historical scholarship. . . . Perhaps [Eldregde's] best book. . . . Highly recommended."-- CHOICE

About the Author:

Charles C. Eldredge is Hall Distinguished Professor of American Art and Culture at the University of Kansas. He is former director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas. He is author of numerous books, including Tales from the Easel: American Narrative Paintings.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0807830879
• ISBN 13: 9780807830871
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112