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American Gothic (Painting)
Grant Wood's painting is often misunderstood as a satirical comment on the midwestern character. It quickly became one of America’s most famous paintings and is now firmly entrenched in the nation’s popular culture. Yet Wood's intention was for it to be a positive statement about rural American values, an image of reassurance at a time of great dislocation and disillusionment. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/6565/american-gothic -
Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV (Painting)
Georgia O’Keeffe consistently found inspiration in nature and believed that the immanence of nature could be discovered in and through the refinement of form. In this painting, abstraction becomes a metaphor of knowledge. https://www.georgiaokeeffe.net/jack-in-the-pulpit.jsp -
The Negro Mother (Poem)
Langston Hughes wrote this poem during the Harlem Renaissance movement. It is often referred to as a heritage poem as it is highly lyrical; employing both a regular rhyme scheme (couplets) and meter. It depicts the capture and hardship of black slaves and speaks of the will to endure that kept them going: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-negro-mother/ -
Rockin’ in Rhythm (Music)
With its upbeat, lively tempo, Duke Ellington's song helped pave the way for the big band swing music that was to come later in the decade. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/duke-ellington/rockin-in-rhythm -
The Empire State Building (Architecture)
The 102 Story Art Deco Skyscraper was designed by William F. Lamb. Construction was completed in a record-breaking 1 year and 45 days and it was the world’s tallest building at the time. https://www.esbnyc.com/about -
Rose and Driftwood (Photography)
This is one of the very few still-life photographs by Ansel Adams. It is considered a strikingly modern interpretation of the traditional still life. This photograph, and others from this period, mark Adams's shift towards Straight Photography. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/adams-ansel/artworks/ -
Standing Woman (Sculpture)
This Bronze Sculpture by Gaston Lachaise embodies Lachaise's stated ambition for his art to express "the glorification of the human being, of the human body, of the human spirit, with all that there is of daring, of magnificence, of significance." https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81215 -
Portrait of Marjorie Ferry (Painting)
Tamara de Lempicka is famed for her innovative techniques.This artist broke the mold for female artists in the early 20th century as she created her own boldly cosmopolitan and classical style that incorporated both cubism and art deco. https://arthive.com/tamaralempicka/works/317387~Portrait_of_Marjorie_Ferry -
My Dress Hangs There (Painting)
Frida Kahlo produced this painting during a difficult time in her life where she found herself to be extremely homesick. It expressed her discontentment with the United States, its social decay, and its fundamental human values. https://worldhistoryproject.org/1933/3/frida-kahlo-paints-my-dress-hangs-there -
Stormy Weather (Music)
Ethel Waters first sang this at The Cotton Club nightclub in Harlem. The song is about the breakup of a romance and the sadness such an event brings. Waters stated: “...I was telling things I couldn’t frame in words. I was singing the story of my misery and confusion, of the misunderstandings in my life I couldn’t straighten out, the story of wrongs and outrages done to me by people I had loved and trusted.” https://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-1/stormyweather.htm -
Murder on the Orient Express (Novel)
This novel by Agatha Christie is considered to be a Golden Age, between-the-wars, classic mystery novel with it's compelling detectives and colorful suspects. Many believe that Christie created the true rules of the murder mystery. https://www.agathachristie.com/stories/murder-on-the-orient-express -
Anything Goes (Musical)
This musical is widely considered to be one of the great classics of American musical theatre. It was the first successful Broadway musical comedy to build its story on two parallel threads of fierce, pointed, cultural satire. The music and lyrics are by Cole Porter. http://www.newlinetheatre.com/anythinggoeschapter.html -
Woman With The Head Of Roses (Painting)
This painting was created in one of the most creative times of Salvador Dalí’s career. During this period, Dali developed his personal interpretation of Surrealism. The piece contains ordinary, symbol-laden objects that defined Dalí’s dreamlike work of the time. https://www.gelendergallery.com/news/woman-with-the-head-of-roses-dali-most-striking-figures/ -
Lady With Fur Jacket (Photography)
James Vander Zee was a photographer during the Harlem Rennaissance who captured the lives of African Americans in New York City. He is best known for his distinctive portraits that were used as a means not only to celebrate black culture but also to provide the community with a feeling of pride. https://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/james-van-der-zee -
'Normandie', 1935 (Graphic Art Poster)
This is one of A.M. Cassandre's most iconic works and is the single best-known image of the Normandie ocean liner. Cassandre developed a striking visual language inspired by avant-garde art in Paris and is considered to be one of the most important graphic artists of the 20th century. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1405126/normandie-poster-cassandre/ -
Migrant Mother (Photography)
Dorothea Lange's photograph came to symbolize the hunger, poverty, and hopelessness endured by so many during the Great Depression. The image was used in multiple campaigns because it evoked deep emotions, as well as depicting the emotions of the depression.https://www.history.com/news/migrant-mother-new-deal-great-depression -
Johanaan (Carving)
Johanaan by Ronald Moody is an Elm Wood Carving. It was one of a series of heroic, spiritual figures Moody carved during the 1930s that was inspired by his questioning of man’s spiritual destiny. https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-46/a-way-of-life#axzz736U45Htq -
Guernica (Mural Sized Painting)
This painting is considered to be one of Pablo Picasso's best-known works. It is regarded by many art critics as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history. Uncompromisingly honest in its brutality, it portrayed the horrors of war at their fullest and, as a result, has come to be a universal anti-war symbol. https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/pablo-picasso-guernica -
The Hobbit (Novel)
JRR Tolkien's novel has been celebrated around the world as a benchmark of fictional literature. Tolkien is first a linguist, and it’s not only his creation of elvish, dwarvish, and orcish languages that impresses, but also the way he illustrates the power of language itself to create.
http://thehobbitreportaplit.blogspot.com/2013/11/theme-and-authors-purpose.html -
Of Mice and Men (Play)
John Steinbeck's play is a Tragedy Drama that tries to explain what it means to be human. Steinbeck touches on several themes throughout it: the nature of dreams, the nature of loneliness, man's propensity for cruelty, powerlessness and economic injustices, and the uncertainty of the future. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men_(play) -
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Film)
This was Walt Disney's first fully animated feature film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs pioneered a new form of family entertainment. The film's innovative use of story, color, animation, sound, direction, and background, among other elements, later inspired directors like Federico Fellini and Orson Welles. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disney-releases-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs -
Fallingwater (Architecture)
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater Main House completion physically and spiritually embraces the natural world. It is captured in the daring and innovative architecture set among the forest landscape of Bear Run. https://fallingwater.org/history/about-fallingwater/designing-fallingwater/ -
The Flame (Painting)
Jackson Pollock's painting is a semi-abstract representation of fire, that hints at human decay. Its dark, brooding colors and heavy brushwork gives the impression of a skeleton's remains engulfed by flames. http://pollockprints.org/flame/ -
New York Movie (Painting)
Edward Hopper is known for his realistic depictions of everyday urban scenes that tend to shock the viewer into recognition of the strangeness of familiar surroundings. Hopper’s art was not only influenced by the theater as many praise his works for their cinematic qualities. Hopper has influenced generations of movie directors, including the great Alfred Hitchcock. https://artschaft.com/2018/10/07/edward-hopper-new-york-movie-1939/ -
The Wizard of Oz (Film)
This film is characterized by its use of technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters. It was on the cutting edge of innovation for the time and was originally considered a political allegory. The film is an American pop culture icon, but at the same time, raises some provocative ideas such as the relationships between power and gender. https://parade.com/914161/samuelmurrian/wizard-of-oz-facts/