Belle Baranceanu

Jennifer Peoples Hernandez

doi:10.5771/9781793612113

Summary

In this first biography of artist Belle (Goldschlager) Baranceanu, Jennifer Peoples Hernandez tells the extraordinary story of a woman who rose from humble beginnings to become the most important female muralist in San Diego during the Great Depression and a prominent California Modern artist. Her meteoric rise in the art world began in Chicago in the 1920s, but the onset of the Great Depression nearly ended her career. Drawing from previously unpublished letters and archival records, Hernandez skillfully weaves Baranceanu’s resilient story into the larger history of the Depression and New Deal in Chicago and San Diego and highlights the success of the government’s work relief programs. For Baranceanu and others fortunate enough to work for the New Deal art projects, the Depression turned out to be a golden

age in American art history with a level of government patronage that has been unmatched ever since.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-1212-0
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-1211-3
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 348
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Introduction No access
1. Romania No access
2. The Promise of Citizenship No access
3. Marriage and Immigration No access
4. Life in Chicago, 1900–1904 No access
5. The In-Laws Arrive No access
6. Notes No access
1. The Jewish Agriculturalists’ Aid Society No access
2. Rock Hill, Burleigh, North Dakota No access
3. Family Problems No access
4. Vigilante Justice? No access
5. “Proving Up” and Giving Up No access
6. Williston, North Dakota No access
7. Strong Women Take Charge No access
8. Notes No access
1. Citizenship, Second Attempt No access
2. Anthony Angarola No access
3. The Windy City No access
4. VIRGINIA No access
5. RIVERVIEW SECTION, CHICAGO No access
6. Notes No access
1. Dearest Tonio No access
2. Everett Street and Elysian Park No access
3. GROSSMUTTER No access
4. The Yellow Robe No access
5. Lee No access
6. Exhibitions, 1927–1928 No access
7. Notes No access
1. The Crash No access
2. Around the Palette No access
3. Shocking Subjects No access
4. Illustrating “The Great March” No access
5. L. M. Stein No access
6. Teaching Art No access
7. Desperate Times No access
8. Into the Abyss No access
9. Notes No access
1. Hard Times in Chicago No access
2. Creating a New Deal No access
3. “My Son Works for the Government” No access
4. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration No access
5. The Relief Census of 1933 and San Diego No access
6. “I’d Rather Not Be on Relief” No access
7. Early Public Works Projects No access
8. Transient Relief Aid for California No access
9. Notes No access
1. The PWAP Begins No access
2. Painting the American Scene No access
3. Controversial Murals No access
4. San Diego No access
5. Legacy of the PWAP No access
6. Notes No access
1. Gauging Unemployment No access
2. The Emergency Work Relief Program No access
3. “The First Orphans of the Storm” No access
4. Work for Women No access
5. Gender Equality? No access
6. The San Diego City Schools Curriculum Project No access
7. Notes No access
1. The Progress of Man No access
2. Positive Reviews No access
3. Girl with a Fawn No access
4. Art World No access
5. Belle’s Circle of Artistic Friends No access
6. Notes No access
1. The WPA Begins No access
2. Federal One No access
3. Organizational Strains No access
4. Notes No access
1. The TRAP No access
2. Bureaucracy No access
3. Choosing a Theme No access
4. Design Issues No access
5. Scenic View of the Village No access
6. Precarious Funding and the Pressure to Finish No access
7. The San Pedro Post Office No access
8. Belle’s Friends and Their Post Office Murals in Illinois No access
9. The End of the TRAP No access
10. Notes No access
1. The Takeover of the Curriculum Project No access
2. Controversial Theme No access
3. A Fine Woman Painter No access
4. The Seven Arts No access
5. Block Prints No access
6. Other Federal Art Projects in San Diego No access
7. New Deal Art Projects in Retrospect No access
8. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
1. 1. Vital Records (In Order of Appearance) No access
  2. Adams Matthew (Digital Archive) No access
  3. Archives of American Art Smithsonian Institution No access
  4. Art Institute of Chicago No access
  5. Bureau of Land Management No access
  6. Cook County Archives No access
  7. Federal Emergency Relief Administration/State Emergency Relief Administration No access
  8. Government Publications (In Order of Appearance) No access
  9. National Archives (San Diego City Schools Curriculum Project Card Records) No access
  10. Newspapers (In Order of Appearance) No access
  11. Oral Histories and Interviews No access
  12. San Diego History Center Archives No access
  13. San Diego Public Library Archives No access
  14. State Historical Society of North Dakota No access
  15. Printed Primary Sources No access
2. Secondary Sources No access
3. Websites No access
Index No access Pages 331 - 346
About the Author No access Pages 347 - 348