For the millions
Subtitle: American art and culture between the wars
By: A. Joan Saab.
Series: Arts and intellectual life in modern America
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 227
ISBN-13: 9780812238181
Subjects: Art, American -- 20th century; United States -- Civilization -- 1918-1945
Description: "Looking behind the scenes at the personalities and policies of such venerable institutions as the Federal Arts Project and the Museum of Modern Art, A. Joan Saab discerns a broad-based democratic modernism, inspired by and engaged with the social life of the period." "The idea of treating the artist as a "producing worker" and art as an "everyday part of living and working" was a novel one in 1935 and illustrated a broad shift in the social roles of both. Prior to the 1930s, art in America had resided principally in the domain of the cultural elite. The upheaval of the Depression era, however, challenged this authority. Throughout the decade, government officials, museum professionals, educators, and artists worked together to determine not only what role artists would play in society but also what forms democratic art would take and how widely it would be disseminated, thus fundamentally redefining the relationship between art and society. This egalitarian artistic movement of the 1930s stands as a significant moment in the ongoing dialogue over the relationship of art and public life that continues today."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references p. ([185]-214) and index.
Table of contents: title: The democratization of American culture; title: Like the farmer or bricklayer; title: Future citizens and a usable past; title: Democracy in design; title: Art and democracy in the world of tomorrow; title: The triumph of American art?