John Steuart Curry - Reactions

Reactions

Despite popularity among the rest of the country, native Kansans were less than thrilled with his works. What Curry believed to be images that expressed positive virtues about the place he remembered from childhood were conceived to be making fun of the worst aspects of the state. Kansans found the inclusion of outdoor baptisms and tornados to perpetuate negative stereotypes associated with Kansas and lead to public embarrassment. Curry had sought to capture the pastoral serenity of the Kansas landscape but when these paintings were displayed in New York galleries the already overwhelming inferiority complex among Kansans grew and they were humiliated by Curry's paintings. Resentment grew, as the chamber of commerce needed Curry's paintings as much as it needed other proponents of stereotypes such as the Wizard of Oz, which was released in 1939. However, New York audiences were fascinated by Curry's paintings. They were exhausted by the commercialization that surrounded their everyday lives and Curry's paintings were entertaining and allowed them to view a more primitive and isolated version of America. Only recently, with the (1992) Statehouse purchase of the drawings related to his murals has Curry's work become appreciated by residents of Kansas.