Smithsonian American Art Museum’s new show on Depression-era artists | Around The Mall

Is It Deja Vu All Over Again? A New Deal for Artists | Around The Mall by Beth Py-Lieberman

On a recent visit to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s new show on Depression-era artists, it was hard to tell if this was a glimpse of the future or a look at the past.

“The United States was in crisis,” reads the text on the walls. “The national economy fell into a profound depression. . . . Thousands of banks failed, wiping out the life savings of millions of families. . . Businesses struggled or collapsed. . . .”

56 paintings on view now through January 3, 2010 at the American Art Museum