John Steuart Curry Associated American Artists Lithograph "John Brown", 1940

Item Details

John Steuart Curry (American, 1897 – 1946)
John Brown, 1940
Lithograph on paper
Signed to the lower right margin
From an edition of 250 prints
Published by Associate American Artists
Printed by George C. Miller, New York

This crayon lithograph by John Steuart Curry depicts the Civil War-era Kansas abolitionist John Brown in the image of Moses, his hair and beard whipped by the wind and his arms outstretched. An enslaved African American man kneels to his lower left, and a tornado rages in the distance. The image is a study from a portion of Curry’s mural in the Kansas Statehouse building, Tragic Preludes, and was published in 1940 by the Associated American Artists in an edition of 250 prints. It is signed to the lower right margin and presented in a wood frame.

John Steuart Curry is considered one of the three elite artists of American Regionalism, along with Thomas Hart Benson (1889 – 1975) and Grant Wood (1891 – 1942). He was born in Dunavant, Kansas, and is known primarily for his depictions of rural life in the American Midwest through oil painting and murals. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Geneva College, before starting work as an illustrator for magazines such as Boy’s Life, Country Gentleman, and The Saturday Evening Post. After the death of his first wife in 1932, Curry spent two years traveling with and painting scenes of the Ringling Brothers Circus. With the establishment of the Federal Art Project in 1934, he began commissioned work on murals and was established as artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among his most well-known works is his controversial mural Tragic Prelude in the Kansas State Capitol, depicting the Abolitionist John Brown and the Bleeding Kansas unrest leading up to the Civil War; it was met with harsh criticism from the state legislature, and ultimately left unsigned by Curry, and it wasn’t until the Statehouse purchased the drawings for his mural designs in 1992 that his work was recognized as appreciated by residents of Kansas, despite the popularity and renown he had gained throughout the rest of the country during his lifetime.

Literature
Gail Windisch and Sylvan Cole Jr., ‘Index of AAA Prints’, in Art for Every Home: an Illustrated Index of Associated American Artists Prints, Ceramics, and Textile Designs; Published Prints, no. 389.

Condition

- toning to paper and mat board, with slight mat burn; ripple to paper; scuffs and light wear to frame.

Dimensions

- measures frame; visible area measures 11.0" W x 15.25" H.

Item #

ITMG424879