John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 - August 29, 1946) was an American painter noted for his pictures depicting life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, he was hailed as one of the three great painters of American Regionalism of the first half of the twentieth century. He is well-known for creating both oil paintings and mural cycles, and lesser-known for making World War II propaganda posters and theatrical sets and costume designs. Like many other regionalists, his art was marketed through Associated American Artists in New York.Born on a farm near Dunavant, Kansas, Dunavant, Kansas, he attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and later spent a year in Paris, where he studied the works of Peter Paul Rubens, Gustave Courbet and Honore Daumier. After his return to the United States he settled in New York City and became a teacher at the Art Students League of New York and Cooper Union. He later traveled with the Ringling Brothers Circus.Many of his works portrayed country scenes in Kansas, and his work Baptism in Kansas was purchased in 1931 by the Whitney Museum in New York City, establishing him as a major artist.Curry's most famous works were murals designed for the Kansas Statehouse, which were seen as controversial at the time. They were thought by some to show the state in a negative light, portraying fiery abolitionist John Brown as well as other scenes containing religious fanaticism and tornadoes. Curry, angered by this resentment, left the murals unsigned at his death in 1946. Since Curry's death (a heart attack perhaps caused by the stress over the public's reaction to the paintings), the murals have come to be regarded as masterpieces on par with similar works done by Benton in Missouri.A cropped version of Curry's Tragic Prelude, which vividly illustrates John Brown and the clash of forces in Bleeding Kansas, was later used by the Topeka, Kansas-based 1970s/1980s rock band Kansas on the album jacket for their 1974 debut album, Kansas. ReferencesCarson, David M., Pro Christo et Patria, The Downing Company Publishers, 1997, ISBN 1-57864-006-7University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture (1938). An exhibition of work by John Steuart Curry. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.^ Carson, pp. vi, 37, 71.

John Steuart Curry (1897-1946) John Steuart Curry was born on a farm near Dunavant, Kansas, in 1897. In 1916 Curry enrolled in The Kansas City Art Institute and then transferred to The School of the ...

Page 1 of 15 Next >> artist: John Steuart Curry lifespan: 1897-1946 title: Tornado Over Kansas, 1929 medium: oil on canvas size: 46 1/4 x 60 1/2 inches

Home » Kansas Facts » Kansas Capitol » John Steuart Curry's "Tragic Prelude" The Capitol- John Steuart Curry's “Tragic Prelude ” Centered on the north wall of the east wing is the gigantic ...

 

John Steuart Curry, A Kansas Portrait ... A Kansas Portrait. In June 1937, a group of newspaper editors began a movement to ...

Description of crayon studies by John Steuart Curry in the collections of the Kansas Museum of ... John Steuart Curry completed these crayon studies for murals in the Kansas Capitol ...

Kansans criticized John Steuart Curry for the way he interpreted the region's history and landscapes. Why is the Kansas painter suddenly popular again? Elizabeth Farnsworth explores the life and work ...

JOHN STEUART CURRY 1897-1946 Sanctuary , c. 1936 Watercolor on paper, 14 x 21" (35.56 x 53.34 cm.) Signed, lower right Museum purchase, 941-W-106 John Steuart Curry was born on a farm just outside of ...

John Steuart Curry [American Regionalist Painter, 1897-1946] Guide to pictures of works by John ... Commercial Galleries: Galleries: We invite you to register and list your site (no charge for this ...