Great Depression, WPA and Artists

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the United States suffered a tremendous rise in unemployment as much of the nation sank into poverty. Although the future certainly seemed bleak for many during the Great Depression, the various programs instituted by the federal government helped gradually bring the nation out of poverty and also allowed the government to reinvigorate the artists who had lost valuable buyers (and thereby their occupations) as a result of the Great Depression. Programs such as the Works Progress Administration helped propel many artists out of poverty by giving them new opportunities to express their creative freedom whilst also supporting artists who were often discriminated against by private collectors or museums, both of which are demonstrated by the success of Aaron Douglas and his ability to create works such as “From Slavery through Reconstruction.”

Following the onset of the Great Depression, the U.S. federal government was quick to introduce programs designed to alleviate the problems faced by much of the American population, including the issues faced by most artists at the time. After the crash of the stock market and U.S. economy in 1929, banks soon began faltering as people tried to rapidly withdraw their money, subsequently driving many US businesses to bankruptcy. Faced with businesses across the nation declaring bankruptcy, many Americans lost their jobs, only causing the nation to descend further into depression. Although the Great Depression and its effects remained prevalent for a relatively long time, many people who had lost their jobs due to the economic crisis benefitted greatly from federal support which was provided through a variety of New Deal programs throughout the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Some of Roosevelt’s most important programs implemented to combat the widespread poverty during the Great Depression involved providing federal employment to unemployed Americans. Through a wide variety of different organizations, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), new jobs were provided for many Americans, thereby supporting them with essential money whilst also helping the nation because of the activities which Americans hired by these federal organizations were involved in. Many Americans took part in large-scale building projects, the maintenance and construction of national parks or the further development of the American fine arts as part of the federal programs created during the Great Depression. Much like many workers across the United States, artists suffered harshly due to the Great Depression. With many businesses, institutions and individuals left with either no money or only limited money, very few people or organizations had the ability to spend money on art. Because of the sudden poverty which impacted both organizations and individuals, many of the museums and private collectors which artists before the Great Depression had relied on as sources of funding for their artworks were suddenly unable to acquire new works of art. With many art galleries, museums and private collectors rendered unable to buy new artworks, artists soon joined other workers as impoverished or bankrupt members of society during the Great Depression. Fortunately for artists, the Federal Arts Project (one of the key projects funded and supported by the Works Progress Administration) provided ongoing support to the artistic community. Both government organizations were able to fund artists or provide funding for individual artworks, thereby helping alleviate the difficulties which artists at the time faced and providing an alternative (even if inferior) source of funding for artists instead of the traditional methods which they had relied on. Both the Works Progress Administration and the Federal Arts Project played essential roles in alleviating the difficulties which artists faced during the Great Depression as they struggled to sustain themselves due to the harsh economic conditions in the 1930s.

The various programs instituted during the Great Depression had the effect of increasing the creative freedom of many artists at the time and helped propel the careers of many lesser known or traditionally discriminated against artists. One key aspect of the modernist movement both in the United States and in Europe was the movement towards greater choice with regard to subject matter from the artist. Despite the emphasis on full creative freedom which proliferated during the times of modernist art, many artists who relied on museums, art galleries and private collectors as their “patrons” still had to abide by a certain set of rules or depict a certain topic to satisfy the wishes of the organizations or individuals by whom they were being funded. This constriction over both the style and topic of an artwork which was often introduced by the person or institution paying for the artwork meant that certain themes were rarely addressed and artists were often unable to experiment with new styles, which was part of the very essence of the modernist era. The various federal programs introduced in the Great Depression to help artists, such as the Federal Arts Project, gave artists a much greater degree of creative freedom over the style they utilized and the themes they addressed in their artworks. Because of this increased freedom bestowed upon artists during the Great Depression through commissions and funding from the federal government, many artists at this time attempted completely revolutionary styles with similarly revolutionary themes. Many of the topics which had traditionally been ignored in mainstream art simply because they were not commissioned by private collectors, museums or art galleries on a regular basis – such as the history or contemporaneous suffering of African Americans – suddenly began to appear in a variety of public buildings and were paid for by the government. By being relatively free in the content and style requirements for the works commissioned, the federal government Great Depression programs helped encourage a flourishing of creative expression in this era. The government programs designed to help artists in the Great Depression also helped increase the recognition and exposure of many artists who were lesser known or traditionally discriminated against. Before the Great Depression, when most artists were sponsored by private collectors, art galleries and museums, famous and well-known artists were most often chosen over lesser-known artists who had not accumulated as much renown. This system of generally choosing relatively well-known artists for commissions resulted in many artists with excellent artistic skills but little renown at the time being unable to find sponsors. During the Great Depression, this trend was able to change. Because commissions and support for artists from the federal government was oft not based on the popularity of an artist, lesser-known artists were able to produce artworks which allowed them to build their reputation and thereby helped propel their individual careers. In addition to supporting lesser-known artists, the Great Depression programs helped propel the careers and lives of many artists from minority groups who were often discriminated against by both institutional and individual sponsors. Following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s emphasis on the fact that the government support programs during the Great Depression should not discriminate against racial or ethnic minorities, artists from racial minorities such as those of African American origin were soon able to gain funding and commissions so that they could join the artistic community as art-producing and prominent members. Because Roosevelt’s New Deal programs did not discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities, unlike many private collectors, museums and art galleries, these programs aided in allowing people such as African American artists to rise to prominence and prestige and gain greater public recognition for themselves and their works. The various New Deal programs which were introduced to support artists not only helped artists financially, but instead played a great role in enabling a greater degree of creative freedom for artists and helped propel lesser-known artists and artists from minority groups to levels of greater prominence.

African American artist Aaron Douglas received much support from federal government New Deal program, thereby helping propel his career and enabling him to explore a very relevant but underrepresented theme, as is exemplified by one of his most famous works, “From Slavery through Reconstruction,” one of the paintings in the series of paintings “Aspects of Negro Life” which Douglas painted following a commission from the Federal Arts Project, one of the branches of the Works Progress Administration. Whilst the Great Depression was ravaging through the United States, Aaron Douglas received a commission from the Federal Arts Project which fundamentally changed his career. Not only did this commission from the 135th street library (New York City) give Douglas a greater degree of financial stability, but it also enabled him to express his creative freedom and involved employing a relatively little-known artist at the time who was part of a minority which was discriminated against throughout the nation. Whilst many commissions for artworks from institutions or private collectors involved producing artworks about very specific topics (which only very rarely involved African Americans), artists who benefitted from the Great Depression programs of the federal government had a much larger amount of freedom for their artworks. Aaron Douglas brilliantly harnessed this newfound relative freedom of art theme in federal government commissions when he created the four-part series of paintings “Aspects of Negro Life.” Contrary to the general trends of the works acquired or commissioned by major art collectors or institutions before the Great Depression, the work for which Douglas was commissioned by the Federal Arts Project allowed the painter to choose a theme relating to African American history. The relatively large creative freedom which Douglas had can clearly be seen in his painting. The style which Douglas chose in order to express his message was unique, as he implemented abstract shapes (such as the circles of light radiating outwards from the hands of some figures), true African American historical events, simplified human figures and relatively realistic depictions of other parts of the painting, such as of plants. The mixture of true-to-life objects and settings with abstract forms was not completely new in the United States, but the use of this modernist style with the novel theme of African American history and life perfectly expresses the loosening of creative restriction which occurred as a result of federally funded artistic programs. The theme of “From Slavery through Reconstruction” also echoes the prominent African American cultural and historical revival which was proliferating at the time. In this painting, Douglas begins a three-part history with the joy as slaves hear of their coming release based on the Emancipation Proclamation. Next, Douglas goes on to express one of the key new freedoms which African Americans gained following the Civil War: the right to vote. In this part of the painting, an energetic African American explains to fellow African Americans the power of the ballot as he encourages them to partake in the American democratic system. Finally, in the third scene at the right side of the painting, we can see the culminating events of the Civil War in the South. As the Northern Union army leaves the South at the end of the war, the highly racist Ku Klux Klan enters this part of the painting. This aspect of Douglas’ painting serves as a reflection on the unfortunate continuation of racist violence even after the end of slavery in the South. An additional effect of the government programs of the Great Depression designed to help artists can be seen in the choice of artist for the commission to create the needed series of paintings for the library on 135th street, New York City. At a time when many large institutions and private collectors discriminated against artists of color, the New Deal programs introduced to the United States to combat Great Depression poverty played an essential role in improving race relations and weakening discrimination. By providing commissions to African Americans and other minority groups, as the Federal Arts Project did in 1934 by commissioning Aaron Douglas to paint a series of paintings for a library, the federal government greatly helped these artists propel their careers and thereby helped pave the way for these artists to gain future commissions. By aiding artists like Douglas in rising to prominence for their art, Great Depression programs like the Federal Arts Project were essential for supporting artists from racial or ethnic minorities like Aaron Douglas. As the example of Aaron Douglas’ “Slavery Through Reconstruction” exemplifies, the various programs designed to help artists through the Great Depression enabled new styles and themes to flourish whilst also encouraging artists from minority groups and helping propel their careers.

In conclusion, although the Great Depression was a time of much economic suffering for many Americans, it also had positive effects on several artists outside of the financial realm. As “From Slavery through Reconstruction” by Aaron Douglas demonstrates, government Great Depression programs such as the Federal Arts Project (a part of the Works Progress Administration) aided in increasing the creative freedom both in style and theme for artists whilst also helping propel less widely known and often-discriminated-against artists to wide public recognition. Many of the harsh constrictions both in regard to artworks and artists which private collectors, art galleries and museums had with regard to the works they commissioned or purchased were removed from federal programs supporting artists in the Great Depression.