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Object Details
- Artist
- John Steuart Curry, born Dunavant, KS 1897-died Madison, WI 1946
- Gallery Label
- Curry created this painting of green pastures and fat cattle to reassure Americans worn down by the Dust Bowl years. A prize bull fills the canvas, grazing contentedly in meadows that fall away on all sides. Cowbirds light daintily on his back, feeding on the insects that would otherwise torment him. This image slyly evokes the myth of Ajax, the Trojan hero who went mad and slew all of his army’s cattle, thinking they were his enemies. Curry's Ajax stands between the viewer and the herd, his one wary eye suggesting that the cows might get their revenge.Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Peter and Paula Lunder
- 1936-37
- Object number
- 2001.95
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 36 1/4 x 48 1/4 in. (92 x 122.5 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 34A
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Landscape\farm
- Animal\cattle
- Animal\portrait\Ajax
- Record ID
- saam_2001.95
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7ae4d489d-88b1-4e34-9540-15685299e766
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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