The New Masses: Art and Activism
Abstract
The New Masses is one of the most important leftist American illustrated magazines of the 1920s and 1930s. It stands out from a number of other similar magazines due to the significant number of images published on its pages.
The brightest period of the magazine coincided with one of the most paradoxical periods in the relations between the USSR and the USA, which was characterized both by the “americanization” of Soviet culture and the influence of the USSR on the Communist Party USA.
The leftist artists, who created the illustrations for the New Masses, did not receive salary for their work, but were eager to publish their artworks on its pages. This magazine has become an appropriate platform for artists, which made it possible to express their opinions and distribute works aimed at destruction the sentiments of capitalist American society. Editorial board and authors of the New Masses were also the members of the John Reed Club (1929-1935), which collaborated with the USSR and took part in organizing the exhibitions of American artists in the USSR. At the years when diplomatic relations between USSR and USA wasn’t established yet there were close relations between John Reed Club artists and Soviet art institutions.
The New Masses magazine is the very important part of the American proletarian culture of the 1920s — 1930s and an extraordinary product. The graphic art published in it is rare and outstanding material that attracted the interest of researchers and curators recently. Despite the vast research of modern and contemporary American art in Russia, little is known about leftist American graphic art. Different references from the literature offer few details about the main properties of this art. This study continues to remedy lacunae in the art history of 20th century.
Downloads
References
Николюкин, А. (1969). Американская секция МОРПа: (Клубы Джона Рида). А. Н. Дубовиков, Л. Р. Ланский (ред.) Литературное наследство. Том 81. Из истории Международного объединения революционных писателей (МОРП), М.: Наука: 459–466.
Швецова, Л. (1969). Отчет секретариата МБРЛ о подготовительной работе к расширенному пленуму МБРЛ. А. Н. Дубовиков, Л. Р. Ланский (ред.) Литературное наследство. Том 81. Из истории Международного объединения революционных писателей (МОРП), М.: Наука: 49–56.
Эфрос, Н. (1969). Международное бюро революционных художников: Обзор. А. Н. Дубовиков, Л. Р. Ланский (ред.) Литературное наследство. Том 81. Из истории Международного объединения революционных писателей (МОРП), М.: Наука: 605–622.
Hemingway, A. (2002). Artists on the Left: American Artists and the Communist Movement, 1926–1956, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Langa, H. (2011). "At least half the pages will consist of pictures": New Masses and Politicized Visual Art. American Periodicals, 21(1), 24–49. https://doi.org/10.1353/amp.2011.0002
Marquardt, V. H. (1988). Louis Lozowick: From "Machine Ornaments" to Applied Design, 1923–1930. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, 8, 40–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/1503969
Marquardt, V. H. (1989). "New Masses" and John Reed Club Artists, 1926–1936: Evolution of Ideology, Subject Matter, and Style. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, 12, 56–75. https://doi.org/10.2307/1504057
Marquardt, V. H. (1993). The Nexus of Art and Politics Seen through Political Journals, 1910-40. Art Journal, 52(1), 20–21. https://doi.org/10.2307/777298
Tadié, B. (2012). The Masses Speak: The Masses (1911–17); The Liberator (1918–24); New Masses (1926–48); and Masses & Mainstream (1948–63). In P. Brooker, A. Thacker (Eds.), The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines. Volume II: North America 1894-1960 (pp. 831–856). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199545810.003.0048
Vitz, R. C. (1973). Clubs, Congresses, and Unions: American Artists Confront the Thirties. New York History, 54(4), 424–447.
Wechsler, J. (2002). From World War I to the Popular Front: The Art and Activism of Hugo Gellert. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, 24, 198–229. https://doi.org/10.2307/1504188
Willison, T. S. (1935). Revolutionary Art Today. New Masses, 17(1), 17–32. URL:https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1935/v17n01-oct-01-1935-NM.pdf
