Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently opened a new exhibition “Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s”. It explores the culture of the 1930s, an unsettling time of the Great Depression when people all over the United States were trying to understand their own country's identity. This was a time of social activism and political changes.

The art presents paintings, sculptures, and even designer clothes that represent artists’ statements, and their views on the situation in the country.

There is definitely a lot to see at the exhibition, but there were a couple of things that interested me the most, and that I highlighted as the most curious.

First, the number of prints covering the labor movement and supporting workers was extraordinary. With people losing their jobs and struggling with the ones they had, the activists and artists tried to support them with their art. The prints covered all the different kinds of professions: rock drillers, miners, builders, and factory workers. Some of the pieces were done by artists involved in the Federal Art Project, a New Deal program that funded visual arts.

Another curious theme of the posters was communism. With political instability and the growing labor movement, the idea of communism as a better political ideology started rising. People supported workers, were against hunger and war, and saw communism as a way out. On such posters, workers are holding red Soviet Union flags supporting the country’s political views.

One other piece that you should definitely pay attention to if you decide to visit the exhibition is Georgia O'Keeffe's Cow Skull: Red, White, and Blue. The skull with its uneven surface and bleached color, but still being strong, represents the American spirit, its strength and beauty, and the background is made in colors of the American flag.

This exhibition is a great opportunity to learn more about the American culture of the 1930s. It shows a collection of all the different kinds of artists, their beliefs and desires, and gives a glimpse into the life of regular people struggling to find their identity along with the identity of the country during the hard and unstable times.

Article by Mary Zakharova