INT 298M
21 October 2019
American Urban Life
Thomas Hart Benton’s “America Today” is a timeless artwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This masterpiece was commissioned in 1930 by Alvin Johnson, the New School for Social Research’s director (“America Today”). The mural consists of canvas paintings with varied depictions of the American society in the 1920s. “City Activities with Dance Hall,” one of the mural’s panels, consists of various aspects of American culture, including jazz music, wealth, poverty, theatre, and education. It was created during a period of severe economic conditions, a few years before the great depression. Therefore, City Activities with Dance Hall is an essential piece of art, mainly due to wide, comprehensive, and contrasting scope, depicting the society in its entirety. It encompasses the rich, and poor, urban and rural, old ways of life and the new labor, entertainment and freedom, at the same time touching on the urban life, economic strife, and education in those times (Korshak, 2014).
The City Activities with Dance Hall mural has extensive illustrations of music and film in the urban setting. A man is pictured playing a grand piano, and several couples are dancing passionately. According to Evans, the 1920s was a critical phase in popular culture as it marked the advent and popularity of jazz music (20). Benton’s ingenuity is evident in the accurate impression of the genre, which includes various instruments and dancing styles. The painting shows several people seated and staring at a stage where a supposed performance is underway. Whereas theatre became increasingly popular in the 1920s, most plays were indicative of the problems that the Americans largely faced. Furthermore, the period saw a massive development in industrialization and mass migration of people into urban areas. The artwork has impressions of urban life, such as jazz music and theatre, which explain the American culture in the early 20th century.
The mural depicts the economic strife of the 1920s America. The growing industrialization occasioned an increase in capitalists who gained their wealth at the expense of the workers. The painting shows wealthy people in elegant clothing engaging in various pleasures of life. On the other hand, the hands reaching in the air are a representation of the poor who relied on their meager wages for survival. The depictions of the contrasts of poverty and opulence are noteworthy because the art was created during an era preceding the great depression. A mother is pictured with her son on her lap, with a tutor attending to the child. The background shows a chalkboard with math calculations to illustrate the classroom setting (Korshak). The 1920s was a crucial period in education due to the introduction of compulsory public learning in the United States. Thus, City Activities with Dance Hall reflects the commercial conflict witnessed in the U.S. before the Great Depression.
Overall, Benton’s artwork, “America Today,” depicts various happenings in American society in the twentieth century. City Activities with Dance Hall is significant due to its portrayal of urban life with elements of jazz music and film. The illustration of rich and poor people indicates the economic discord experienced in the U.S. during the 1920s. Many Americans were unemployed, and the ensuing Great Depression posed further challenges to the American economy. The aspect of education is represented to signify the essence of knowledge in the development of children. The mural is a masterpiece, given its diversity of color, exuberance and resonant ideas representing the varied contrasts of the American urban life in the early 20th century. The artwork is significant in today’s society due to the massive role that music, theatre, and education play in the development of societal values and life patterns.
Works Cited
“America Today, 1930–31: Thomas Hart Benton American”. The Met, 2019, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/499559?=&imgno=2&tabname=label. Accessed 22 October 2019.
Evans, Nicholas M. Writing Jazz: Race, Nationalism, and Modern Culture in the 1920s. Routledge, 2015.
Korshak, Yvonne. Art review-Thomas Hart Benton’s America Today Mural Rediscovered: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Let’s Talk Off-Broadway, 11 Oct. 2014, letstalkoffbroadway.com/2014/10/art-review-thomas-hart-bentons-america-today-mural-rediscovered-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art.html. Accessed 22 October 2019.
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