Reexamining 1930s American Art: The 'Realisms' of Archibald Motley, Jr. And Reginald Marsh
Wolfskill, Phoebe Elizabeth
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/87375
Description
Title
Reexamining 1930s American Art: The 'Realisms' of Archibald Motley, Jr. And Reginald Marsh
Author(s)
Wolfskill, Phoebe Elizabeth
Issue Date
2006
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Fineberg, Jonathan
Department of Study
Art History
Discipline
Art History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Black Studies
Language
eng
Abstract
"""Realism"" as a stylistic category has often been read within modernist narratives as a call-to-order, one that arises during a time of political and social instability in order to offer a vision of composure and orderliness. I contend, however, that Motley and Marsh used realism to comment on its own inherent instability; these two artists employed fantasy, distortion, and self-reference in their work in order to expose realism as decidedly non-mimetic and in need of close scrutiny. In doing so, they also pointed to the precarious social, political, and economic situation facing the United States in the 1930s. I suggest that the stylistically and conceptually complex realisms of these two artists reflect the disorder and upheaval not only of the social environments they depicted, but also of the pictorial space itself. While Motley and Marsh were not alone in these pursuits, I present them as ideal models for assessing the complexity of figurative work and the relevance of representational concerns beyond illustration and propagandistic motivations during the 1930s. By evaluating their paintings, prints, photographs, sketchbooks, letters, and essays alongside the artistic works and essays of Depression-era artists, critics, and scholars and more recent scholarship on the period, I create a broader and more pictorially-oriented study of Depression-era realism."
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.