John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West

by Patricia A. Junker, John Steuart Curry, Henry Adams

John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West is the first comprehensive study in more than fifty years of this member of the great triumvirate of American Regionalists: Thomas Hart Benton, Curry, and Grant Wood. It revives the reputation of one of the most important and controversial artists of the first half of the twentieth century, whose paintings of farm life in his native Kansas (including baptisms and tornados), of the circus, of American history, and of the American scene in general were dramatically eclipsed by the ascendancy of abstract art and the New York School at midcentury.

252 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Amy Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of John Steuart Curry’s paintings and artworks in color plates and black and white photographs through the work accompanying the essays. Although I didn’t read all of the essays, I did read several and especially the biographical essay by Thomas H. Benton.

I am both interested in art history and in Kansas history, and Curry’s work plays a part in both. I grew up gazing at his murals in the Kansas Statehouse, standing alongside my grandpa and grandma who enjoyed taking me on outings to the Capitol. When I started bringing my children to the Capitol I discovered more about Curry and the fuller story of those striking murals. They always seemed to be a fixture of the building as old as the building itself, but now I realize that my grandparents were in their 30s when Curry painted them and controversy swirled around. As lifetime Topeka residents, I wonder now if they had any opinion about them.

Grant Wood’s American Gothic is probably the best known of the American Regionalists, but Curry’s work is my favorite. I am glad to have grown up seeing the Statehouse murals and also bringing my children to gaze upon them—as well as the Kansas Cornfield oil on canvas which hangs in the Wichita Art Museum.

[Sherry (sethurner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became interested in John Steuart Curry once I learned of his connection to the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Regional Artists Association. This is a lovely book, filled with color plates of Curry's paintings, and black and white photos of Curry and the people in his life. There are ten essays covering different aspects of the artist's life and work, each with an extensive bibliography. There is a complete time line of Curry's work at the end. I recommend it to anyone interested in Depression era painting or Midwestern art.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good just for the collection of his work in one place. My favorites are Our Good Earth, Wisconsin Landscape, Line Storm, and Tornado (on the cover). I'd love to get to Topeka to see his murals in the courthouse. The essays were interesting, and thankfully, not all totally fawning.