The art programs of the New Deal back in the 1930s are familiar to anyone who follows the trajectory of American art and culture and politics. From easel paintings to murals to sculptures to plays to novels, government funding during the Great Depression underwrote a body of creative cultural work whose breadth and depth is unprecedented in American history.
Almost as soon as the programs began, the art created by them began to circulate. Basically, there were two kinds of art created: one was art that was fixed in place, like a mural. The other kind was art that could be moved, like a painting on canvas or a small sculpture. All of it was, and is, the property of the American government. The works that could be moved wound up on display in federal buildings, courthouses, post offices, congressional offices, and schools around the country. But other pieces ended up in small museums, local buildings, even in private collections. One by one they disappeared.
In 1949, Congress created an agency called the General Services Administration to manage all the federal properties around the country. Another of its responsibilities became the stewardship of all the art owned by the government. This includes pieces of art all over the country that the government has owned to the middle of the 1800s. Taken together, it’s the largest collection of public art in the world.
Fifteen years ago, the GSA produced a 20-minute documentary about its efforts to track down lost New Deal artworks. In introducing the film, Brian Miller, who was then the GSA Inspector General, said “Please consider this film as a kind of wanted poster for lost federal art.” Entitled “Returning America’s Art to America,” it was narrated by the late Charles Osgood. The film includes interviews with art historians, GSA staff members, museum officials, and people who have returned New Deal-created artworks. It’s an impressive story. You can see it on YouTube. It’s really worth your time.
Recent deep cuts to the GSA have left its collection increasingly without stewards and caretakers, to say nothing of the efforts to track down lost art. Charlotte Cohen, who used to work in the art programs of the GSA said “If the fine arts collection is left to exist on its own without a staff to oversee or maintain it, or if the collection is broken up, it’s an enormous loss for the history and legacy of our country.” Even more than that, it’s a loss for American culture itself.
