I think Heather did a great job in explaining some of Marsh’s notable works. Specifically, I was most interested in Marsh’s “Why Not Use the “L”?” painting, produced in 1930 during the midst of the Great Depression. This painting has become an image that is too common for those who ride the MTA daily like myself. This painting ultimately touches on the theme of what is art and its purpose. The painting displays the apathetic attitudes that drove New York City during the Great Depression. Because everyone was struggling to get by, no one really paid attention to other’s struggles as it was basically universal. Marsh’s work usually consisted of these bleak scenes and thus could be characterized as an artist a part of the Realist movement.
I think Heather did a great job of portraying Marsh’s work. His painting the Bread Line intrigued me the most. As Heather mentioned, the use of light and dark creates a much more meaningful piece of art. Marsh knew that people during the Great Depression were going through very tough times. So much so, that men standing in line for one loaf of bread would be using that to feed their entire families! Most of these men were also out of work and as Marsh illustrates in their facial expressions, many are worried sick about their next meal, or them not having a roof to live under. Others are ashamed, like the man in the foreground, who is too ashamed to even have his face shown. Marsh’s depiction of the bread line seems very accurate and captures the struggles faced during the Depression.
Reginald Marsh is an interesting artist who captured New York city at it’s lowest point- The Great Depression. While many of his contemporaries had paintings that showed the beauty of New York city, Marsh was one of the few artists that showed New York at it’s rawest form. However, he did not give a social commentary about New York City in his artwork but rather a raw depiction of life as it was and highlighet the social times at America’s lowest point. For example, in one of my favorite pieces, Breadline(1929), Marsh depicts the feelings of hopelessness that gripped America at this time. The man, highlighted in black, walking with his head down past the bread lines shows what the economic situation had become and what America was beginning to feel at the end of the roaring 20s. This picture perfectly signaled a new and more troubled era awaiting America in the 1930s.
I think Heather did a great job in explaining some of Marsh’s notable works. Specifically, I was most interested in Marsh’s “Why Not Use the “L”?” painting, produced in 1930 during the midst of the Great Depression. This painting has become an image that is too common for those who ride the MTA daily like myself. This painting ultimately touches on the theme of what is art and its purpose. The painting displays the apathetic attitudes that drove New York City during the Great Depression. Because everyone was struggling to get by, no one really paid attention to other’s struggles as it was basically universal. Marsh’s work usually consisted of these bleak scenes and thus could be characterized as an artist a part of the Realist movement.
I think Heather did a great job of portraying Marsh’s work. His painting the Bread Line intrigued me the most. As Heather mentioned, the use of light and dark creates a much more meaningful piece of art. Marsh knew that people during the Great Depression were going through very tough times. So much so, that men standing in line for one loaf of bread would be using that to feed their entire families! Most of these men were also out of work and as Marsh illustrates in their facial expressions, many are worried sick about their next meal, or them not having a roof to live under. Others are ashamed, like the man in the foreground, who is too ashamed to even have his face shown. Marsh’s depiction of the bread line seems very accurate and captures the struggles faced during the Depression.
Reginald Marsh is an interesting artist who captured New York city at it’s lowest point- The Great Depression. While many of his contemporaries had paintings that showed the beauty of New York city, Marsh was one of the few artists that showed New York at it’s rawest form. However, he did not give a social commentary about New York City in his artwork but rather a raw depiction of life as it was and highlighet the social times at America’s lowest point. For example, in one of my favorite pieces, Breadline(1929), Marsh depicts the feelings of hopelessness that gripped America at this time. The man, highlighted in black, walking with his head down past the bread lines shows what the economic situation had become and what America was beginning to feel at the end of the roaring 20s. This picture perfectly signaled a new and more troubled era awaiting America in the 1930s.