John Steuart Curry

Born: 1897

Died: 1946

John Steuart Curry was born on a farm near Dunavant, Kansas. He was enrolled in art classes from an early age, and his family was very supportive of his artistic endeavors. Curry briefly attended the Kansas City Art Institute before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916. After two years at the AIC, Curry studied at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He trained as a commercial illustrator and his illustrations were included in major publications such as the Saturday Evening Post. He studied painting in Paris in 1926, afterwards settling in Westport, CT where he started painting regionalist subject matter. He quickly established himself as a major name in Regionalism. In 1936, Curry moved to Madison, WI, as he had been appointed artist in residence at the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Curry completed several murals for academic buildings and helped establish the Rural Arts Program (later called WRAP). In 1937, he was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the Kansas state capitol in Topeka, but his subject choice of John Brown was controversial and he was not able to finish the project due to public outcry. He continued to paint Regionalist work up until his sudden death in 1946.