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https://openvalley.org/files/original/c4dbf99d9d0a6da874f1ae654f80c2d4.jpg
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https://openvalley.org/files/original/773bdaf7eb4e85563e66cf9fcd84c8c6.JPG
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
New Deal Gallery
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." <br /><br />Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame.<br /><br />Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1935-1940
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Cooper, Ken (project director)
Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant)
Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee.
Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Original Format
The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data
Oil painting
Physical Dimensions
The actual physical size of the original image
29.5 x 23.5 in.
Condition: torn canvas, surface dirt
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Still Life
Description
An account of the resource
A cryptic, maybe private allegory is signalled by this still life. We look downward to a table in disarray: yes, the towel is artfully draped, but eleven cherries are scattered from a bowl; the carafe of water doesn’t match a coffee cup and saucer; the presence of scissors can’t be logically inferred from the other objects. Maxey’s lighting, quite stark, arrives from the left to illuminate hard surfaces.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">About the Artist</span>: Maxey’s art training took place at the National Academy of Design, New York. Working for the Federal Art Project during the 1930s, his paintings were placed in several New York locations: PS 109 (Brooklyn), PS 152 (Queens), New Utrecht High School, and the YMCA’s William Sloane branch; his paintings were shown at the Federal Art Gallery (1938, 1939). Maxey also was politically active: in an undated draft document, Maxey was one of many to propose an <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/holger-cahill-papers-6730/subseries-4-4/reel-5291-frames-1285-1287" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Artists’ Union</a>, which in 1938 organized itself as the Federal Arts Committee and urged creation of a permanent Federal Arts Commission. Its executive board included actor Burgess Meredith, composer Leopold Stokowski, actor Lillian Gish, and painter Max Weber; Maxey was the group’s Executive Secretary. A bill jointly sponsored by Rep. John Coffee (WA) and Sen. Claude Pepper (FL) failed to gain support, and federal funding for artists withered. During the 1950s Maxey and his artist wife, Amelia (herself a WPA artist), moved to Bucks County, PA and ran a business specializing in painted furnishings. 13 more images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-15-folder-31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Maxey, Stevens, 1903-1969
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Federal Art Project
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1936
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Ritz, Abigail (photography)
Cooper, Ken (biography)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts
Object #FA18202
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg, 1.1 MB
jpeg, 13.7 MB
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Still life
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
109
Federal Art Project
New Deal Gallery
painting
Stevens Maxey
still life