Study for the figure of John Brown in the -Tragic Prelude- mural for the Kansas Statehouse by John Steuart Curry

Study for the figure of John Brown in the -Tragic Prelude- mural for the Kansas Statehouse 1940

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drawing, pencil

portrait

drawing

charcoal drawing

figuration

pencil drawing

underpainting

pencil

united-states

portrait drawing

academic-art

realism

Dimensions: 22 3/8 x 17 3/8 in. (56.83 x 44.13 cm) (sight)32 3/16 x 25 13/16 in. (81.76 x 65.56 cm) (outer frame)

John Steuart Curry made this drawing with sanguine crayon as a study for the figure of John Brown in his mural, -Tragic Prelude-. The thing about this drawing is the immediacy of Curry's marks. The whole thing is laid bare, like the skeleton of the pose, no attempt to hide or cover the thinking, the planning. It’s a real show of looking and thinking through the medium. The marks themselves are soft but assertive. They create the figure’s form, but also give a sense of movement and energy, almost as if the figure is about to burst from the page. Look at the way Curry defines the muscles and contours of the body, each stroke building to a powerful form. It’s about presence, about weight. It makes me think of Egon Schiele, both artists share that talent for raw, unadorned expression. It reminds us that art is as much about the process as it is about the final product, it's a dialogue, a conversation with the medium itself.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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The red conté study of John Brown relates to the Kansas Statehouse murals that Curry worked on from 1937 to 1942. This particular sheet is related to an early stage of the mural from late 1938 to early 1939 in which Brown appeared beardless. Curry knew that Brown didn't wear a beard while in Kansas, but grew it to disguise himself when he moved east after the Pottawatomie Massacre in May of 1856. Curry later decided to model Brown on Michelangelo's dramatic rendition of Moses for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Brown appears bearded in the lithograph of 1939 (P. 91.37.2) as well as in the John Brown painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curry considered the Kansas Statehouse murals his best work, but the legislature refused to allow him to finish the cycle in the way he planned and the project became mired in controversy. In 1992 the Kansas legislature issued an official apology for its treatment of the artist and bought a large group of drawings related to the murals. Other studies for this project reside in the John Steuart Curry Papers at the Archives of American Art and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.