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Erosion and Contour Cropping

Erosion and Contour Cropping

John Steuart Curry

John Steuart Curry painted this landscape after visiting one of the University of Wisconsin’s soil erosion research sites in the Coon Valley. Here, agriculturalists tested innovative farming methods recommended by the University to combat erosion. Programs of reforestation, contour cropping, and terracing, along with the construction of check dams, reshaped the land in an effort to revitalize farming in Wisconsin. Curry’s inclusion of a rainbow suggests his optimism for these methods.
Artist/Maker
John Steuart Curry
(American, 1897 – 1946)
Title
Erosion and Contour Cropping
Date
between 1938 and 1940
Material & Process
Oil on canvas mounted on board
Dimensions
30 x 44 1/2 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of Mrs. John Steuart Curry
Inventory No.
49.4.6
Classification
Paintings
Location
United States

Related

July 1949, gifted by the artist’s wife, Kathleen Curry (Madison, WI), to the University of Wisconsin-Madison; 1967, transferred to the Elvehjem Art Center [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Kroiz, Lauren. "Cultivating Citizens: The Regional Work of Art in the New Deal Era." Oakland: University of California Press, 2018. p. 192, fig. 83
  • Myers, Julia R. "A New Chronology of the Development of John Steuart Curry's Murals for the Rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol." Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, vol 43, no. 4 (Winter 2020-21): 254-271. p. 269, fig. 11
  • Madison Art Center. "John Steuart Curry." Madison: Madison Art Center, 1969. n.p., no. 53

  • Resource & Ruin: Wisconsin’s Enduring Landscape: Chazen Museum of Art, 12/19/2022–3/26/2023
  • John Steuart Curry: At Home in Wisconsin: Museum of Wisconsin Art, 6/27/2014–9/14/2014
  • John Steuart Curry: Madison Art Center, 1/19/1969–2/23/1969

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