American Political Art
(above: Edward Kemble, Harper's Weekly, February 17, 1912, p. 3. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Introduction
This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Political Art." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.
After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.
We recommend that readers search within the TFAO website to find detailed information for any topic. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.
Articles and essays from Resource Library in chronological order:
Presidents, Politics, and the Pen: The Influential Art of Thomas Nast (10/3/16)
Neither / Nor: American Dream, Exiled Hero; essay by Mark Bessire (10/10/13)
To Stir, Inform and Inflame: The Art of Tony Auth (7/17/12)
Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag (11/10/08)
Andy Warhol: Pop Politics (10/1/08)
Introduction: Enlarging a Little Giant; essay by Harold Holzer (8/21/08)
The American Evolution: A History through Art (3/19/08)
Pip Brant: The Flying Carpet and Other Reusables; with essay by Eleanor Heartney (11/5/07)
Dark Metropolis: Irving Norman's Social Surrealism (1/31/07)
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement; article by Susan Landauer (11/30/05)
LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BLACK (7/24/02)
Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty: Faces of a Nation (12/15/00)
Keeping Tradition Alive: The Political and Social Prints of Carlos Cortez (10/10/00)
Solidarity Forever! Graphics of the International Labor Movement (9/22/00)
Oliphant in Santa Fe: Political Drawings, Caricature, and Sculpture (9/5/00)
Power, Politics & Style: Art for the Presidents (8/30/00)
The Political Dr. Seuss (2/17/00)
America Seen: People and Place at the Dane G. Hansen Museum (7/14/99)
America Seen: People and Place (4/14/99 and updated 6/2/99)
America Seen: People and Place (2/2/99)
From other websites:
"African-American History Through the Arts: Black Panther Party Political Art," by Carlos Aleman, James Taylor, Ryan Hjornevik, from Coral Gables Senior High School. Accessed 5/18
Art of Politics is a 2017 exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum which says: "Unrestrained by specific style or medium, the works in this exhibition examine a variety of issues, uncovering complex intersections between art and political engagement." Accessed 12/17
"Art on the Political Front in America: From The Liberator to Art Front," excerpt by Virginia Hagelstein Marquardt, Art Journal (Vol. 52, No. 1, 72-81. Spring, 1993), from warholstars.org. Accessed August, 2015.
Black Panthers: Art and History, an exhibit held in 2015 at the New-York Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.
Cartoon America: The Ungentlemanly Art: Political Illustrations, from Library of Congress. Accessed August, 2015.
Celestia Morgan: REDLINE is a 2019 exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art which says: "Birmingham-based artist Morgan was raised and currently lives in neighborhoods that were once redlined, inspiring her three-part series that examines the practice through photographs of houses, silhouettes of neighborhoods, and images of the interstate that divides this city." Accessed 6/20
Chawky Frenn: We the People, for Show or for Sure is a 2020 exhibit at the Delaware Contemporary which says: "The paintings summon the viewer to reflect on two fundamental concerns: the influence of money on politics and policy, and the history of the struggle for human rights. Combinations of image and text provide a visual space for reflection on people, triumphs, challenges, and threats to democracy as expressed in the words of presidents, lawmakers, justices, economists, historians, writers, and civil rights activists." Accessed 4/21
Clark V. Fox: Icon Chains was a 2016 exhibit held at the Biggs Museum of American Art. See a 10/20/16 article by the Museum's curator, Ryan Grover, "Dover artist Fox let loose at Biggs, Delaware State University" in Deleware State News. Accessed 10/16
A Dangerous Woman: Subversion and Surrealism in the Art of Honoré Sharrer is a 2017 exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art which says: "She was, in many ways, a rebel, whose paintings marked covert but unflinching resistance to the oppressive political and social conventions of the Cold War era."
Erik Parker: Too Mad to Be Scared, an exhibit held July 15, 2012, to February 24, 2013 at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. Accessed August, 2015.
In Real Times - Arthur Szyk: Artist and Soldier for Human Rights is a 2023 exhibit at the Fairfield University Art Museum which says: "This special exhibition, organized around the theme of human rights features more than 50 works by acclaimed Polish Jewish miniaturist and political cartoonist Arthur Szyk (1894-1951), including political cartoons, and images that honor the power and importance of democratic ideals. A witness to the rise of totalitarianism in Europe, Szyk emigrated from London to America at the beginning of World War II." Accessed 10/23
Mina Cheon aka "Kim Il Soon" is a 2018 exhibit at the Noyes Museum of Art which says: "Cheon has exhibited her political pop art, known as "Polipop", internationally. Polipop draws inspiration from global media and popular culture and makes work that intersects politics and pop art in subversive yet provocative ways. In particular, the artwork focuses on geopolitical and contested spaces and political pop icons while responding to Asia's relationship with the Western world." - To read more after exhibit closes in 6/18, go to "Past Exhibitions" section of museum website. Also see artist's website Accessed 5/18
Oliphant: Editorial Cartoons and the American Presidency, 1968-2012, an exhibit held October 30-December 9, 2012 at the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Accessed February, 2015.
On Protest, Art and Activism is a 2018 exhibit at the David Winton Bell Gallery which says: "On Protest, Art and Activism explores differing ways artists engage the political and social issues of their time." Accessed 2/19
Pat Oliphant: Editorial Cartoons from the Nixon and Clinton Eras is a 2021 exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum which says: "Spanning more than sixty years, Oliphant's finely-tuned drawings have cast a clear eye on global politics, culture, the economy, and scandals, and his caricatures of American presidents and other powerful leaders are world renowned. In addition to thousands of daily editorial cartoons, he has also produced personal works, including dozens of bronze sculptures, works on paper, and paintings." Accessed 6/21
"Political Art Timeline, 1945-1966: Postwar Art of the Left," by G. Roger Denson, posted 12/03/11, from The Huffington Post. Accessed August, 2015.
Politics as Symbol/Symbol as Politics, an exhibit held July 17 - January 27, 2013 at the Spencer Museum of Art. Accessed August, 2015.
The Restless Regionalist: Art of Joe Jones from the Moffett Collection is a 2017 exhibit at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art which says: "Steeped in Karl Marx's Das Kapital and Communist Manifesto, Jones became a leader in what became known as "Marxart," featuring depictions of workers of the world uniting and achieving a better society for themselves. The artist's sense of regional ties is expressed through gritty scenes of American life in the Heartland countryside as well as in urban settings included in this exhibition." Also see Joseph John Jones in Wikipedia. Accessed 8/17
The Spiit of the Sixties: Art as an Agent for Change, an exhibit held February 27, 2015 - April 11, 2015 at the Trout Gallery at Dikinson College. Includes exhibit catalog. Accessed April, 2015.
Un/American is a 2017 exhibit at the Smith College Museum of Art which says: "This installation features works from the SCMA permanent collection by five artists whose "Americanness" was questioned by the United States government during these years: Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Rockwell Kent, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Ben Shahn." - To read more after exhibit closes, go to "Past Exhibitions" section of museum website. Accessed 12/17
Virtue of the Vicious is a 2017 exhibit at the Hyde Park Art Center which says: "Virtue of the Vicious presents an examination of the current political climate from the perspective of eight contemporary artists. Curated by Hyde Park Art Center's Director of Exhibitions & Residency Programs Allison Peters Quinn, the exhibition features photography, sculpture, painting and video by Paul Stephen Benjamin, Kevin Blake, Jasmine Clark, Eric J. Garcia in collaboration with Luis Mayorga, Michelle Hartney, Jay Turner Frey Seawell and El Coyote Cojo (Emilio Rojas and Adela Goldbard)." Accessed 9/17
"Voting Against Ruffled Feathers," by Randy Kennedy, Nov 1, 2102, from The New York Times. Accessed August, 2015.
Water Line is a 2017 exhibit at the Center for the Visual Arts (Metropolitan State College of Denver) which says: "The exhibition will feature artists' critical response to institutional and individual actions that contribute to the water crisis, as well as imaginative solutions, practical and not, for addressing the issue. The challenge presented to artists will be to engage audiences in multi-channel dialogue about water, with the intent to make visitors think differently about solutions to this problem that affects everyone, and requires the efforts of all." Accessed 9/17
Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties, an exhibit held August 30 through December 14, 2014 at the Hood Museum of Art. Includes audio guide text, video and press release. Accessed January, 2015.
Online videos:
NOW. Arts &
Culture. Art and Politics, online videos from PBS. Accessed August,
2015.
"Political
Portraiture in the United States and France during the Revolutionary and
Federal Eras circa 1776-1814" at National Portrait Gallery, September
25 & 26, 2014, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, from the Terra Foundation for American Art
Web page linking to audio
and video resources. Accessed October, 2015.
Musical accompanyment:
Presidential Campaign Songs Presidential Campaign Songs, source: Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America Collection
Return to Topics in American Representational Art
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