The Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) in West Michigan is proud to present the exhibition: “John Steuart Curry: Weathering the Storm.” Through September 2, 2024, the exhibition will feature masterworks for the first time in over 25 years.
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Iconic paintings, such as “Tornado Over Kansas” and “Baptism in Kansas,” will be featured in the exhibition alongside other notable works loaned from The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Cincinnati Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Saint Louis Art Museum, The Sheldon Museum of Art, The Syracuse University Art Museum, and Kiechel Fine Art.
“The Muskegon Museum of Art is home to one of Curry’s most famous paintings, ‘Tornado Over Kansas,’ as well as one of the best art collections of a small art museum in the country. Over the past 111 years, the MMA has enjoyed a reputation of being a small museum presenting exhibitions that regularly receive national attention. In this tradition, we are proud to present this groundbreaking John Steuart Curry exhibition,” says Kirk Hallman, MMA Executive Director.
The exhibition highlights the artwork that visually defined the Midwest and tells the captivating and tragic story behind the work and life of John Steuart Curry. His paintings, which depict picturesque rural landscapes, communal gatherings, and most famously, the devastating natural disasters that impacted the Midwest, influenced the national perception of life in the region through popular culture and media in the late 1920’s and beyond.
For this exhibition, the Muskegon Museum of Art has partnered with independent scholar and curator Patricia Junker, whose new research and insight into Curry challenges the conventional understanding of Curry and reveals the deeply personal, and emotionally tragic inspiration behind his breakthrough paintings and how a Kansas farm boy came to create paintings that became iconic visions of America’s Midwest in popular culture.
In addition to the exhibition, a full schedule of accompanying public programming will be presented.
“’Tornado Over Kansas’ was immediately embraced in popular media and the art world at the time of its release in 1929,” shared Art Martin, Senior Curator at the Muskegon Museum of Art. “It was a strange, iconic image of the American Midwest and captured the drama, weather, and struggle of the American farmer. For the first time in two decades, we are bringing together Curry’s greatest hits and re-examining his life, telling his story, including his personal tragedies during World War I that completely transformed who he was as an artist. If you’ve never seen Curry this is your chance and if you already know him, you’ll learn something new.”
