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Courtesy of ACA Galleries, New York
The Opposition
194228 x 38 in. (71.1 x 96.5 cm)
William Gropper
United States (New York, NY, 1897 - 1977, Great Neck, NY)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Accession Number:
1951.5
Location: Currently on view
Collection:
Encyclopedia Britannica Collection
Lawmakers were threatening to cut significant federal funding for the arts when political cartoonist and painter William Gropper satirized the United States Senate in The Opposition. Gropper wrote, “I have portrayed the type of representative that is opposed to progress and culture. The U.S. Senate…[has] such an influence on American life, good and bad, that it has even affected the artist and the cultural development of our country.”
[Gallery label text, 2007]
William Gropper was best known for his caustic commentary on the American political and social scene. He depicted realistic and identifiable subjects; The Opposition was one of a number of paintings and illustrations that came out of his 1934 assignment for the magazine Vanity Fair, to sketch legislators in action in Washington. Gropper made no bones about his distaste for politics and used his art to further his point of view:
"I have portrayed the type of representative that is opposed to progress and culture. The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have had such an influence on American life, good and bad, that it has even affected the artist and the cultural development of our country. No matter how far removed from politics artists may be, it seems to strike home. Only recently one blasting speech of a reactionary representative resulted in not only doing away with the Section of Fine Art, but also dismissing the Graphic Division of the OWI [Office of War Information] and nullifying art reportage for the War Department."
Gropper's start as a newspaper illustrator informed the creative processes of the rest of his life. His work retained his journalist's interest in issues of the day, giving it a particularly topical essence presented in a dynamic, expressionistic format.
[Gallery label text, 2006]
[Gallery label text, 2007]
William Gropper was best known for his caustic commentary on the American political and social scene. He depicted realistic and identifiable subjects; The Opposition was one of a number of paintings and illustrations that came out of his 1934 assignment for the magazine Vanity Fair, to sketch legislators in action in Washington. Gropper made no bones about his distaste for politics and used his art to further his point of view:
"I have portrayed the type of representative that is opposed to progress and culture. The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have had such an influence on American life, good and bad, that it has even affected the artist and the cultural development of our country. No matter how far removed from politics artists may be, it seems to strike home. Only recently one blasting speech of a reactionary representative resulted in not only doing away with the Section of Fine Art, but also dismissing the Graphic Division of the OWI [Office of War Information] and nullifying art reportage for the War Department."
Gropper's start as a newspaper illustrator informed the creative processes of the rest of his life. His work retained his journalist's interest in issues of the day, giving it a particularly topical essence presented in a dynamic, expressionistic format.
[Gallery label text, 2006]
Marks
Artist's signature, lower left: Gropper
Provenance
Encyclopedia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Chicago, IL; purchased from them by Senator William Benton, CT, 1948; purchased from him by the Gallery in 1951
Related Objects
See a lithograph of this subject by the same artist: The Opposition 89.59
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Contemporary American Painting Encyclopaedia Britannica 4/12/1945 - 7/30/1950
- New Accessions of American Painting from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection 1/19/1951 - 2/28/1951
- Selections from the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery Albany Institute of History & Art 11/15/1964 - 12/20/1964
- The Newspaper in American Art The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego 10/11/1965 - 11/14/1965
- The Newspaper in American Art Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences 10/8/1966 - 10/30/1966
- Man and his Work Memorial Art Gallery 1967-1968
- Twentieth Century American Masters The Art Center 1/14/1978 - 2/26/1978
- From the Permanent Collection- The Working American Memorial Art Gallery 3/8/1980 - 4/6/1980
- American Realism, 1920-1940 Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst 11/9/1980 - 2/15/1981
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Susan Dodge Peters, ed. Memorial Art Gallery: An Introduction to the Collection. New York, New York: Memorial Art Gallery in association with Hudson Hills Press, 1988.
- Article Title: New Accessions of American Paintings. Article Scope: Article. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 15, Issue Number: 5. Issue Date: April-May, 1950.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1961.
- Article Title: Britannica Special Issue. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Art Digest. New York, New York: Art Digest, Inc. Volume Number: 19, Issue Number: 13. Issue Date: April 1, 1945. Page Number: 38, Figure Number: 22, 45
- Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Grace Pagano and Donald Bear. The Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting. Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1946.
- Docent Newsletter. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery
- Amerika: Traum und Depression, 1920/40. Berlin, Germany: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, 1980.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Oliver W. Larkin. Art and Life in America. New York, NY: Rinehart & Co., 1949.
- Article Scope: Entry. Twentieth Century American Masters. South Bend, IN: The Art Center, 1978.
- Article Scope: Mention. Elizabeth Brayer. Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
- MAGazine. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery
- Memorial Art Gallery. ARTiculate. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2000--.
- Article Author: Tarbell, Roberta K.. Article Title: William Gropper : The Opposition. Article Scope: Chapter and reproduction. Marjorie B. Searl, ed. Seeing America: painting and sculpture from the collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2006. Page Number: 254-257
- Lester C. Olson, ed. Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2008.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. August L. Freundlich. William Gropper: Retrospective. Coral Gables, FL: Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery, 1968.
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. David Shapiro. Social Realism: Art as a Weapon. Ungar, 1973.
Related Children(s)
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The Opposition
1989.59
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
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The Opposition
Compares the two versions of The Opposition in the Memorial Art Gallery's collection.
Seeing America Inservice
Materials from a teacher in-service presentation Spring 2008
Seeing America
Chapter on William Gropper 's The Opposition, written by Roberta K. Tarbell.
MAGexplore
MAGexplore provides in-depth information and close looking at over 200 objects in MAG's collection.