80
PARTISAN REVIEW
Marxist objective content into subjective psychological content an–
chored in religious myth rather than in materialist history is the criti–
cal turning point of the New York school ; it coincides precisely with
the collapse of the American left after the Munich pact.
During the Depression, discussions of content were frequent .
The mural painter's task was described by James Michael Newall,
who painted a giant fresco entitled
Evolution of Western Civilization:
Mural painting, most often placed in public buildings, is seen by
a great many passing people, who represent a variety of ideas
and are engaged in different callings .
It
is therefore by nature
not intimate, but general or universal in thought and appeal.
Through its monumental approach it goes beyond the recording
of outward appearance to include also the inner significance of
the society and time in which it is painted.
Newall further exhorted the artist to find a "universal language
in order that his works may be easily read. Toward this end the artist
invents symbols - a shorthand or phonetic language - through which
to convey his thought." Newall's conception of a symbol was as literal
as a high school textbook (his mural is still
in situ
in the library of the
Evandon Childs High School in the Bronx).
Looking back at the period that she found both exciting and
frustrating, Krasner recalls the W.P.A. system:
An artist got a mural . Then he would have anywhere from two
to ten assistants, depending on the size of the mural and how
many assistants he needed - or she needed. The Project lasted
a long time. Some of the artists whose sketches had been ap–
proved left the Project. The actual mural was executed by others .
De Kooning, for example, had to leave the Project when it was
discovered that he was not yet a U .S. citizen. I executed the
actual mural from his sketch.
During the years he worked on the Project, Pollock continued
his technical experiments. Crafts were an important part of the
W.P.A. program. Native American Indians were hired to produce
pottery and jewelry in traditional tribal styles . Indeed, it is largely as
a result of the W.P.A. that their culture, which Pollock so much ad–
mired, was preserved and documented . Within Pollock's oeuvre,
there are a number of craft works . Benton encouraged him to make
pottery because Benton's wife, Rita , could sell it for him more easily.
