Cartoon for the U.S. Department of Justice Mural by John Stuart Curry (1897-1946), watercolor on paper, 9 1/2″ x 21″, signed lower right.
In 1936, Curry was commissioned to paint two murals for the Department of Justice Building interior. The first is seen here, titled Justice of the Plains: The Movement Westward. The U.S. General Service Administration describes the scene as “a heroic outlook on the hardships of the journey westward, the dangers of the unknown, and the improvisation of justice to meet the needs of settlers during the nineteenth century”. The piece originally only featured a homogeneous family looking westward, however, Curry revised the image to include the left horsemen after receiving criticism from the government that it failed to represent any form of justice. The above sketch falls in between this revision and the mural’s completion, given the inclusion of the left horseman, while studies for the same mural featured in the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art collection date before the aforementioned request.
The sketch is an important piece not only in Curry’s portfolio, showcasing his talent as an illustrator of rural scenes, but in American history, encapsulating the triumph of the American westward expansion and the government’s evolving relationship with public art.
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Born on a farm near Dunavant, Kansas, John Stuart Curry was a steadfast, wholly American artist. Encouraging his pursuits of art, Curry’s family supported his decision to drop out of high school in 1916 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute. He soon migrated to Chicago, Pennsylvania, then New York City, where he produced mostly illustrations, all before travelling to Paris and studying master paintings at the Louvre. While abroad, Curry solidified his negative views on rigid European academicism and soon returned to the States, this time with a mission to produce art that appeals to the average American.
In 1928, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney took an interest in Curry’s work and financed his next several years of work, as Curry continued to travel and create art that spoke to rural America. For the remainder of his life, Curry was supported by angel investors and an enthusiastic audience spanning coast to coast, cementing his name as one of the most prolific in American art.
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