Letters to the Bouncy Banker...

Letters to the Bouncy Banker...
...from a struggling artiste.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Spring in Town-1941
Grant Wood papers, 1930-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

A typed list by Grant Wood, painter of the classic “American Gothic”, features columns containing the start and end dates of all economic depressions ever to have taken place in American history, ending with the Great Depression—the time during which Grant lived and worked. At the bottom of this list, Wood adds, “all [depressions] came to an end except this one, mebbe [sic] this will…”. This desperately hopefully message, and the whole list itself, emphasizes the drastic conditions out of which Wood’s work emerged, breathing new air into the now-staid, iconic characters in his paintings.

I was at the Morgan Library, NYC, to check out the thoroughly enjoyable Exhibition: "Lists". I was too cowardly to take my own cell phone pictures thanks to a particularly vigilant guard but found this at The Art Blog whom I thank most sincerely for having overcome said fear and posted the above. Go to their site for more on the "Lists" exhibition.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please let me know what you think...