JOHN STEUART CURRY

John Steuart Curry often painted scenes of life in his native Kansas. In State Fair, he depicted a panorama of colorful tents, circus rides, and surging crowds. The viewer observes the fair from the perspective of a stage framed by allegorical female figures wearing hats decorated with fruit, vegetables, and grain. The figures symbolize the bounty of Kansas agriculture, but their nudity also emphasizes the burlesque aspects of the fair, along with the performance of Parisian dancing girls for "men only." A flag points toward the Kansas capitol building on the horizon, while the master of ceremonies in the center of the composition may refer to Curry himself, directing the scene. Curry participated in an artistic movement called Regionalism, which developed after World War I. Regionalists portrayed what they considered quintessentially American scenes, most often featuring the land and people of farm communities in the Midwest and South.