Art During the Depression

Examine the following pieces of art.  You will be asked to determine if some of them werereflective of the Great Depression and the struggles that people were facing.  On the other hand, some of the pieces are escapist in nature.  Escapist means avoiding reality by absorbing the mind in something else, such as entertainment.

Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930
 

Anna Mary Robertson ("Grandma") Moses, Apple Butter Making, 1944/1947
 

Jacob Lawrence, Interior Scene, 1937. 

Jacob Lawrence, Ironers, 1943. 

 

Clips from Gone with the Wind

"Stormy Weather" performed by Lena Horne (1943)

"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" by Duke Ellington (1943)

 "Didn't It Rain" performed by Mahalia Jackson

"Dustbowl Blues" by Woody Guthrie (video featuring photos by Walker Evans, Dorthea, Lange, and Carl Mydans)