Ajax is an oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist John Steuart Curry, created in 1936–1937. It depicts a well-fed Hereford bull with two cowbirds on his back. The painting is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in Washington, D.C.[1]
| Ajax | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | John Steuart Curry |
| Year | 1936–1937 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 92 cm × 122.5 cm (361⁄4 in × 481⁄4 in) |
| Location | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. |
Creation
editThe painting was made with the intention to reassure Americans after the Dust Bowl years.[1] According to Curry's friend Reginald Marsh, it was really a self-portrait.[2]
Legacy
editCurry featured Ajax the bull in several of his works, such as the mural Kansas Pastoral. The subject also became a target for mockery among those who opposed regionalist painting and considered it superficial. The satirist Marshall Glasier mocked both Ajax and Curry's position at the University of Wisconsin with his 1948 painting John Steuart Curry and the University of Wisconsin Bull-Breeding Machine.[3]
Marianne Moore mentions Ajax in her poem "The Buffalo".[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Ajax". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
- ^ John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West. Hudson Hills. 1998. p. 105. ISBN 9781555951399.
- ^ Got Cow?: Cattle in American Art 1820-2000. Hudson River Museum. 2006. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9780943651323.
- ^ Moore, Marianne (1994). Complete Poems. Penguin Books. p. 27. ISBN 9781101127476.
External links
edit- Presentation at the museum's website
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