MONDAY, AUGUST 31st New Deal Album of Circus Images
Monday, August 31st, 2020
Our 144th Edition
MORE TREATS FROM THE PAST
New Deal Circus,
Carnival, Festival,Fair,
Vaudeville and Varieties Art
These Images are courtesy of the NEW DEAL OF THE DAY
National New Deal Preservation Association
The Living New Deal
Above: “Children at Play and Sport II,” an oil painting by Moses Soyer (1899-1974), created while he was in the WPA’s Federal Art Project, ca. 1938. Soyer went on to become a very prominent artist, and his works are held in galleries across the United States. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Above: “Amusement Park,” a lithograph by Ann Nooney (1900-1964), created while she was in WPA’s art program, ca. 1935-1941. According to the International Fine Print Dealers Association, “Twenty-two of [Ann Nooney’s] prints are in the Works Progress Administration collection of the New York Public Library print room. Three of her prints appear as illustrations in the ‘WPA Guide to New York City, 1939.'” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Above: “Circus People Resting,” an oil painting by Bernice Cross (1912-1996), created while she was in the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project, ca. 1933-1934. Cross was born in Iowa, but spent most of her professional career in Washington, DC. Her works are held in several galleries today. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Above: “The Very Strong Man,” a sculpture by Eugenie Gershoy (1901-1986), created while she was in the WPA’s art program, ca. 1936-1940. According to an exhibit label, “During the late 1930s, Eugenie Gershoy began working for the Works Progress Administration in New York. A friend of hers, the artist Max Spivak, was designing a series of murals for a children’s library in Astoria, Long Island. Gershoy decided to create colorful figurines to go along with Spivak’s paintings… The library was so pleased with the work of Gershoy and Spivak, they rebuilt the space into an oval to emphasize the circus setting.” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Image of the mural at Astoria Library with closeup of figure.
Eugenie Gershoy, Ill-Fated Toreador, ca. 1935-1939, polychromed dextrine on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.31
A WPA poster, created in New York City, 1937. The Federal Theatre was scorned by conservatives as a “waste of taxpayer money,” but millions of middle and low-income Americans enjoyed the shows for a modest fee, or even free. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: A WPA poster, created in Massachusetts, 1938. Vaudeville was a popular form of entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But Vaudeville-like shows still exist today. For example, jugglers, magicians, comedians, sword-swallowers, and theatre performers entertain crowds at Renaissance Festivals all across the country. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: “Trapeze Girl,” a color lithograph by Russell T. Limbach (1904-1971), created while he was in the WPA’s Federal Art Project, 1935. According to the Brier Hill Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts, Limbach, “was the recipient of numerous awards” and “His works are held in the collections of numerous libraries and museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles Museum of Art.” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Above: A WPA poster by artist Charles Verschuuren, promoting a water carnival in New York, 1936. According to his Wikipedia page, Verschuuren was a Dutch painter who moved to the United States in 1922, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II as an illustrator. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: “Italians in Jefferson Park,” an oil painting by Jerome Myers (1867-1940), created while he was in the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Thomas Jefferson Park is in New York City. According to his Wikipedia page, a 1923 magazine quoted Myers about his interest in depicting city life: “All my life I had lived, worked and played in the poorest streets of American cities. I knew them and their population and was one of them. Others saw ugliness and degradation there, I saw poetry and beauty…” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Above: “Festival at Hamburg,” a mural study for the Hamburg, Iowa Post Office, by William Edward Lewis Bunn (1910-2009), created while he was in the New Deal’s Section of Fine Arts, 1941. According to SNAC, a collaborative enterprise that includes the National Archives and the University of California, “Wiliam Edward Lewis Bunn was a designer, muralist, and painter in Muscatine, Iowa and Ojai, Calif… During the 1930s he won commissions from the Federal Department of Fine Arts [the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Works Agency] to paint murals in public buildings throughout the Midwest. He also worked as an industrial designer for Shaeffer Pen and Cuckler Steel.” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
SEND YOUR ENTRY TO ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
WIN A SELECT TRINKET FROM THE RIHS VISITOR CENTER KIOSK
WEEKEND PHOTO OF THE DAY
SEATING AREA BEHIND THE NEW 460 MAIN STREET
CLARIFICATION
WE ARE HAPPY TO GIVE WINNERS OF OUR DAILY PHOTO IDENTIFICATION A TRINKET FROM THE VISITOR CENTER. ONLY THE PERSON IDENTIFYING THE PHOTO FIRST WILL GET A PRIZE.
WE HAVE A SPECIAL GROUP OF ITEMS TO CHOOSE FROM.
WE CANNOT GIVE AWAY ALL OUR ITEMS,. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES, WE MUST LIMIT GIVE-AWAYS. THANK YOU
NEW FEATURE
FROM OUR KIOSK
GREAT STUFF FOR ALL OCCASIONS
CHANGE PURSES $5-
EDITORIAL
“GONE WITH THE GREEN”
JUST LOOK AT RECENT GOINGS ON AND WHAT WE ARE LOOSING
New traffic turnaround at Octagon with loss of one mature tree and most of planting area
Paving over area around “Sanctuary” with boards and less grassy area
Mowing down trees and foliage at Southpoint Park
We loose nature and wildlife with every foot of green we cover-up, cement over, remove in any way.
Judith Berdy
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky
for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All materials in this publication are copyrighted (c)
PHOTOS FROM JUDITH BERDY COPYRIGHT RIHS/2020 (C)
MATERIAL COPYRIGHT WIKIPEDIA, GOOGLE IMAGES, RIHS ARCHIVES AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION (C)
FOR THIS ISSUE:
WIKIPEDIA
National New Deal Preservation Association
The Living New Deal
FUNDING BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDING
DISCRETIONARY FUNDING BY COUNCIL MEMBER BEN KALLOS THRU NYC DYCD
Copyright © 2020 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
Leave a comment