Benton, Pollock, and the politics of modernism : from regionalism to abstract expressionism

468 Pages·1991·27.796 MB·English

by  Erika Doss

ERIKA DOSS
BENTON, POLLOCK,
AND THE POLITICS
OF MODERNISM
FROM REGIONALISM
TO ABSTRACT
EXPRESSIONISM
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/bentonpollockpolOO0O0doss_b2r9
BENTON, POLLOCK, AND THE POLITICS OF MODERNISM
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO AND LONDON
ERIKA DOSS
BENTON, POLLOCK, AND
THE POLITICS OF MODERNISM:
FROM REGIONALISM TO
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1991 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1991
Paperback edition 1995
Printed in the United States of America
00 99 98 97 96 95 5432
ISBN 0-226-15942-6 (cl.)
ISBN 0-226-15943-4 (pbk.)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Doss, Erika Lee.
Benton, Pollock, and the politics of modernism : from regionalism
to abstract expressionism / Erika Doss.
po cn:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Regionalism in art—United States. 3. Pollock, Jackson,
1912-1956—Criticism and interpretation. 4. Abstract expressionism—
United States. 5. Modernism (Art)—Political aspects—United
States—History—20th century. I. Title.
ND237.B47D67 1991 91-18541
759.13—dc20 CIF
Title page illustrations
Left: Thomas Hart Benton, City Building, from America Today, 1930; distemper, egg
tempera, and oil glaze on linen, 92” x 117”. Originally painted for the New School for
Social Research, New York; now on display at Equitable Life Assurance Society, 787
Seventh Avenue, New York City. Copyright The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the
United States.
Right: Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm, 1950; oil on canvas, 105" x 207”. Courtesy
of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, George A. Hearn Fund, 1957. Copyright 1990
Pollock-Krasner Foundation/ARS N.Y.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
For my mentors,
Miss K., Erv, KAM, Lary,
and, most of all,
Alice and Seale
; 7 pai ]
.
, nro Gnefl «
fou MAR 08) mee
i wee ie@ laon win ;
he
" . ’ . ,
Oh { 7 a
i i
“he : {
f
ay
; ; 7
|
2
’ Ai) en
$ =
eapes ® 7 U a - us o
y
i] ot Fe"« a
;
n@ * = 1
j j , a
7
: 4 |
i ‘
| ‘4 = st- } Sealee e fox Yatae yia maaee
Aw | aa ned && @ =Gee si e i2d A- ana haw sy "
ii) " ao S Gay)i pG D§ a FeS | er -s ysi Sh 6 a
C:.O (N° FEN-k sS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Republicanism and Modernism: The Genesis of
Oo N E
Regionalism in The American Historical Epic 9
Liberal Reform and the American Scene:
T OW O
Benton’s 1930s Murals 67
Thomas Hart Benton in Hollywood: Regionalist Art
THREE
and Corporate Patronage 147
Modernist Accommodation, Corporate Appropriation:
F O UR
The Collapse of Regionalism and the New Deal 229
From Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism: Modern
[ee i Ne a=
Art and Consensus Politics in Postwar America 311
The Misconstruction of Abstract Expressionism:
Ss ! x
Institutional Orthodoxy and Commodification 363
Index 425
-
10) | Quad i
ie brie?)
i =e Pah, ® ‘9
Ae nie a4 (
dads apd mrt > ¥
= Daw PEL Vis :
wie
a lewy aed ji eh ¥ rivigoniemn ae Ay x
ha al me
>
a oe