Throughout the 1930s, Curry, a native of Kansas, was closely associated with Thomas Hart Benton as a member of the artistic movement known as Regionalism. This large painting by Curry is a large study for the artist’s mural in the rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol. One of the most compelling and controversial figures in nineteenth-century American history, John Brown devoted his life to opposing the extension of slavery in the 1850s into the Kansas Territory in battles that presaged the Civil War, which began in 1861. Curry depicted Brown larger-than-life in an open, stark landscape besieged by a tornado, a meteorological symbol for the conflict, and with an enslaved man at his side. The abolitionist’s crazed expression and animated hair and beard suggest the messianic fervor that fueled his opposition to human bondage.
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the artist, Wisconsin (1939–44; sold on April 18, 1944, through Associated American Artists Galleries, New York, to Encyclopædia Britannica); Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago (1944–50; sold to MMA)
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," January 10–February 18, 1940, no. 24 (as "John Brown, Detail Study of Kansas Mural").
San Francisco. Palace of Fine Arts. "Golden Gate International Exposition," May 25–September 29, 1940, no. 1308 (lent by Walker Galleries, New York City).
New York. Walker Galleries. "Group exhibition," December 1940–January 4, 1941, no catalogue.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 12–May 13, 1945, no. 27.
New York. International Building at Rockefeller Center. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 6–July 8, 1945, no. 27.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 26–August 26, 1945, no. 27.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 15–October 14, 1945, no. 27.
Dayton Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 1–25, 1945, no. 27.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," December 18, 1945–January 27, 1946, no. 27.
Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," February 17–March 15, 1946, no. 27.
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 10–May 10, 1946, no. 27.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 1–July 1, 1946, no. 27.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 16–August 25, 1946, no. 27.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 10–October 13, 1946, no. 27.
Indianapolis. John Herron Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 3–December 8, 1946, no. 27.
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 5–February 2, 1947, no. 27.
Saint Louis. City Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," February 20–March 20, 1947, no. 27.
Davenport, Iowa. Davenport Municipal Art Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 5–May 1, 1947, no. 27.
Omaha. Joslyn Memorial. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 1–July 1, 1947, no. 27.
Wichita Art Association. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 15–August 15, 1947, no. 27.
New Orleans. Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 1–October 1, 1947, no. 27.
Denver Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," October 15–November 15, 1947, no. 27.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," December 1–31, 1947, no. 27.
Pasadena Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 13–February 15, 1948, no. 27.
Sacramento. Crocker Art Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," March 10–April 10, 1948, no. 27.
Seattle Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 28–May 23, 1948, no. 27.
Portland, Ore. Portland Art Association. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 10–July 10, 1948, no. 27.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 25–August 25, 1948, no. 27.
Fine Arts Society of San Diego. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 15–October 15, 1948, no. 27.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 14–December 12, 1948, no. 27.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnumbered cat. (p. 4).
Denver Art Museum. "Art Tells the Story," March 1–April 26, 1953, not in catalogue.
Lawrence. University of Kansas Museum of Art. "John Steuart Curry, 1897–1946," April 13–May 24, 1957, no. 44.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Fourteen American Masters: Paintings from Colonial Times to Today," October 16, 1958–January 4, 1959, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
Des Moines Art Center. "Mid-America in the Thirties: The Regionalist Art of Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood," December 10, 1965–January 16, 1966, no. 44.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Topeka. Kansas State Capitol. "John Steuart Curry," October 3–November 3, 1970, no. 40.
Bronx County Courthouse. "Paintings from the Metropolitan, Pinturas del Metropolitano," May 12–June 13, 1971, no. 3.
Westport, Conn. Westport Public Library. "Westport Artists of the Past: A Bicentennial Exhibition 1976," June 12–30, 1976, unnumbered cat. (front cover).
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tribute to a Curator: Robert Beverly Hale," November 16, 1978–March 4, 1979, extended to March 18, 1979, unnum. checklist.
Iowa. Cedar Rapids Art Center. "John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood: A Portrait of Rural America," January 10–March 1, 1981, unnumbered cat. (fig. 7).
Wichita State University. "John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood: A Portrait of Rural America," March 11–29, 1981, unnumbered cat.
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. "Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso," May 15–September 1, 1981, no. 220.
Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Art Museum. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 9–April 21, 1985, unnumbered cat. (p. 103).
Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Museum of Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 5–June 30, 1985, unnumbered cat.
New York. National Academy of Design. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 16–September 1, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Evanston, Ill. Terra Museum of American Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 15–November 10, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 12, 1985–January 19, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 9–March 30, 1986, unnumbered cat.
St. Paul. Minnesota Museum of Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 20–June 8, 1986, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1930-1940," April 9–September 8, 1996, no catalogue.
Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. "John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West," March 7–May 17, 1998, unnumbered cat. (pl. 62).
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West," June 13–August 30, 1998, unnumbered cat.
Kansas City, Mo. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. "John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West," October 11, 1998–January 3, 1999, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Thomas Hart Benton’s 'America Today' Mural Rediscovered," September 30, 2014–April 19, 2015, no catalogue.
"John Curry: He Paints at Wisconsin as Artist-in-Residence." Life 7 (December 25, 1939), pp. 34–35, 37, ill. pp. 34, 37 (in the artist's studio), 35 (color).
"Artists Finally Send Their Best to 1940 Whitney Annual." Art Digest 14 (January 15, 1940), p. 5, ill.
Thomas W. Beggs. "The Artist-in-Residence." Parnassus 12 (December 1940), ill. p. 19 (in progress, in the artist's studio).
Edward Alden Jewell. "Whitney Museum to Open New Show." New York Times (January 10, 1940), p. 23.
"The American Scene." New York Times (January 7, 1940), ill. p. 124.
Ted Wear. "John Steuart Curry and his Kansas Murals." American Artist 4 (October 1940), p. 6.
"Annual Exhibit to Open Today at the Whitney." New York Herald Tribune (January 10, 1940), p. 15.
William A. Kittredge. "An Appreciation." Demcourier 11 (April 1941), p. 22.
"Art Notes." New York Times (January 1, 1941), p. 28, notes the inclusion of this work in a group exhibition at the Walker Galleries [Exh. New York 1940–41].
Anita Brenner. "Is There an American Art?" New York Times (November 23, 1941), ill. p. SM12.
John Steuart Curry. John Steuart Curry. New York, 1945, unpaginated, ill., lists it in the Encylopaedia Britannica collection.
"Britannica Collection." Art Digest 19 (April 1, 1945), p. 46, ill. pp. 20 (Associated American Artists Galleries advertisement), 22 (installation photo).
"Britannica Collection Comes to New York." Art Digest 19 (June 1, 1945), p. 11.
Grace Pagano. The Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting. Ed. Grace Pagano. Chicago, 1946, unpaginated, colorpl. 28, includes a statement by the artist describing this work as a study for his mural in the State capitol, Topeka, Kansas, adding that in the study, he "tried to portray the fanatical and vehement characteristics" of John Brown.
Howard Devree. "Realism, Popularity, Modernism." New York Times (August 4, 1946), p. 56.
"John S. Curry Dies; Mural Painter, 48." New York Times (August 30, 1946), p. 14.
"The People's Voice." Art Digest 20 (February 15, 1946), p. 13.
Hal Borland. "Curry's America: Strong, Bold, Lush." New York Times (March 23, 1947), p. SM22, ill.
Robert Beverly Hale. 100 American Painters of the 20th Century: Works Selected from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1950, ill. p. 54.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures. Vol. 17, album W, Twentieth-Century American Painters. New York, 1950, unpaginated, no. 16, ill. (color).
Doris Brian. "The Metropolitan's American Policy—A Long View, No Blind Flying." Art Digest 24 (July 1, 1950), p. 9.
Art Digest 26 (November 1, 1951), ill. p. 42 (color).
"Encyclopedia Britannica Art Up for Auction." New York Herald Tribune (December 7, 1952), p. 52.
Albert Ten Eyck Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1957, p. 10.
Stuart Preston. "Art: 'Fourteen American Masters'." New York Times (October 16, 1958), p. 41.
S. P. "The Portrait in American Art." New York Times (October 12, 1958), p. SM23, ill.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 94–96, ill.
Brett Waller inJohn Steuart Curry. Exh. cat., Kansas State Capitol, Topeka. [Lawrence, Kan.], 1970, p. 14.
Calder M. Pickett inJohn Steuart Curry. Exh. cat., Kansas State Capitol, Topeka. [Lawrence, Kan.], 1970, pp. 40, 78, no. 40.
James F. Pilgrim. Paintings from the Metropolitan, Pinturas del Metropolitano. Exh. cat., Bronx County Courthouse. New York, 1971, unpaginated, no. 3.
Sam Hunter and John Jacobus. American Art of the 20th Century: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York, 1973, fig. 294, date it about 1939.
William Slaughter. Westport Artists of the Past: A Bicentennial Exhibition 1976. Exh. cat., Westport Public Library. Westport, Conn., 1976, unpaginated, ill. front cover (color).
Hilton Kramer. "Art: 'Westport Artists of Past': A Frame of Historic Reference." New York Times (June 18, 1976), p. 63.
Joseph S. Czestochowski. John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood: A Portrait of Rural America. Exh. cat., Cedar Rapids Art Center. Columbia, Mo., 1981, pp. 15, 123, fig. 7 (color).
William S. Lieberman inProfil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. Bordeaux, 1981, pp. 169–70, no. 220, ill.
Lowery Stokes Sims. The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Jacksonville Art Museum. New York, 1984, pp. 9–10, 92, 102–3, ill. (color).
John Brandenburg. "Museum's Offerings Tell Story of 20th Century America." Daily Oklahoman/Times (May 30, 1985), p. 15.
Elyse Topalian. "Modern Art in the Met." Apollo 124 (October 1986), p. 362.
M. Sue Kendall. Rethinking Regionalism: John Steuart Curry and the Kansas Mural Controversy. Washington, D.C., 1986, pp. 83, 126, colorpl. 5.
Irma B. Jaffe. "Religious Content in the Painting of John Steuart Curry." Winterthur Portfolio 22 (Spring 1987), pp. 38, 44–45, fig. 19.
Paul Richard. "Mixing It Up At the Metropolitan: Standards & Surprises at the Museum's New Wallace Wing." Washington Post (February 1, 1987), p. F8.
John Dorsey. "New Wing Lifts the Met Into the 20th Century." Sun (Baltimore, Md.) (February 1, 1987), p. 12K.
Sylvia Hochfield. "Thoroughly Modern Met." Art News 86 (February 1987), p. 115.
Roger Medearis. "Student of Thomas Hart Benton." Smithsonian Studies in American Art 4 (Summer–Autumn 1990), p. 59.
Matthew Baigell inAmerican Art, 1930–1970. Exh. cat., Galleria Lingotto, Turin. Milan, 1992, p. 46, ill. p. 61 (color).
Ellen Sharp. "The Legend of John Brown and the Series by Jacob Lawrence." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 67, no. 4 (1993), p. 20.
Patricia Junker in Patricia Junker Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West. New York, 1998, pp. 196, 206–7, 234, colorpl. 62 and ill. p. 196 (fig. 1, in progress ca. 1939).
Barbara Haskell. The American Century: Art and Culture, 1900–1950. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1999, p. 230, fig. 452 (color).
Stephen Coppel. "John Steuart Curry's Lithograph 'John Brown'." Burlington Magazine 150 (July 2008), p. 471.
Lauren Kroiz. "'A Jolly Lark for Amateurs': John Steuart Curry's Pedagogy of Painting." American Art 29 (Spring 2015), p. 32, fig. 2 (the artist's studio, 1939).
Lauren Kroiz. Cultivating Citizens: The Regional Work of Art in the New Deal Era. Oakland, 2018, p. 173, fig. 70 (the artist's studio, 1939).
Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, p. 22, fig. 6 (color).
How did a decade of unprecedented financial strife, radical social upheaval, and technological innovation shape art and cultural identity in the United States?
John Steuart Curry (American, Dunavant, Kansas 1897–1946 Madison, Wisconsin)
1943
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