The 1930s were a decade of great social and environmental upheaval in the United States. The crash of the stock market in 1929, combined with disastrous drought in the Great Plains and massive flooding along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, caused dramatic change to our natural and cultural landscape. Artists during this time responded to and documented the hardships of the Depression era in a variety of styles and media. This Land: Picturing a Changing America in the 1930s and 1940s is a new exhibition at Crystal Bridges featuring some 45 paintings, drawings, prints and photographs from this crucial era in American history. This Land is accompanied by a musical audio tour featuring folk music by regional artists, curated by the Fayetteville Roots Festival. The tour is available as a free app, downloadable from the iTunes App Store.
Thomas Hart Benton, Ploughing it Under (detail), 1934, reworked 1964, oil on canvas.