Born to Paint: Two Brothers, Two Paths

Born to Paint: Two Brothers, Two Paths

Dear Readers,

In 2005, while working with my father to create a family tree and an album of photographs and written memories of his early life, I learned that my grandfather, a lifelong artist, had a brother who had also been a lifelong artist. Sadly, I never met my great uncle. This site is dedicated to recording and sharing the results of my research and explorations into the two men's lives and their work. In my view, together they represent a broad sweep of 20th century art practices and philosophies which is historically significant. My research and reporting is complete until I happen to source more information or learn of paintings being recovered by someone who reads this blog. If you find an artwork by either WW Curry or Noble Curry, please contact me. Thank you! Below is the first installment. Following this, the posts are ordered as most-recent to oldest. Please scroll to the bottom for reading in chronological order.

From the left: Noble Wilbur Curry, Jean Curry (Wylie's daughter), and Wylie Warren Curry ca.1917, Columbus, Ohio

My grandfather, Wylie Warren Curry, was an earnest, loveable man with a quirky sense of humor. Of few words, he did not particularly encourage me to talk or ask questions when we were together, but I asked them anyway. He did not offer up any additional information beyond that which would satisfy my curiosity for the moment. As an inquisitive child, I remember asking him about his work. He was an artist all his life, and of this I was fully aware and deeply proud. In many ways, he was a rôle model even though in my entire life I may have visited him only 8 or 9 times in his home town of Lakewood, Ohio. Once, he and my grandmother came to Seattle on the train to see us. A daily walk-taker, Grandpa let me trot alongside him each day during that visit as he quietly strode a curvy road on which I wasn't normally allowed to walk.

I never consciously knew that Grandpa had a brother. Only as a dusty recollection did I ever hear mention of my great-uncle Noble. And only a few years ago did I learn that Noble Wilbur Curry lived but a few miles from where my grandparents lived, and only right before my father's death in 2007 did I learn from Dad that uncle Noble was also a lifelong artist. Furthermore, he was considered a significant American painter of the early 20th century.

It is a current project of mine to research the work of my uncle Noble, and to attempt to profile these two men as dedicated artists who represented quite contrasting aspects of the artistic world of their era. They were at odds with each other for most of their lives. The photo above is one of two that I know of that shows them together. This was taken in Columbus, Ohio. The child in the center, my aunt Jean, would later become the subject of Wylie's finest oil portrait. That portrait hangs in my living room, bequeathed to me by my father.

My heartfelt thanks go to Georgeanne Curry Frawley and Mary Curry Shirley, Noble's daughters, for their generous help with this project. I'm so happy to have connected with them and their families!

Noble W. Curry's WPA Fine Art Prints: "Oranges" and "Street Scene"

Oranges, by Noble W. Curry

Occasionally I will search the internet for artworks attributed to my grandfather or great-uncle. Recently I located two of Noble Curry's fine art prints created during his years as a Works Progress Administration artist. While I was hoping that these two artworks were some of the "lost" artworks done by him during this period (Noble's daughter Mary is familiar with both), I was nonetheless very happy to have access to the good quality images and specific information about them. (To enlarge the images, double click on them.)

Oranges, two prints located from an edition of 25:

Lithograph, 1935-1942, 11 1/4 × 13 1/4 in. (28.6 × 33.7 cm)

1-Case Western University, Cleveland, OH (#3 from the edition)

2-Murray State University, Murray, KY (# unknown)

In my view, Oranges is a premium example of a lithographic print. Why? Each color you can see in this complex image was "pulled" from a slab of limestone on which Noble drew with an oily black crayon. After the stone was drawn on, the black crayon was removed after the whole surface was acid-washed. Every grain of the stone where the crayon was applied became receptive to oil-based ink rolled onto the acid-cleaned, wet slab. For each color, this process was repeated with the paper being carefully laid on the stone and run through a heavy printing press. With each pass, a new ink color was applied to the paper, thus creating subtle combinations of layered color. Oranges shows what a masterful print artist Noble was. He was able to foresee how color and value could be built, pass by pass, using this labor-intensive process. One wonders: where are the other 23 copies of this lithograph and 22 copies of Street Scene shown below?

 

Street Scene, by Noble W. Curry

Street Scene, two prints located from an edition of 25, and one print owned by Noble's daughter, Mary:

Lithograph, 1940-41, 8 1/4 × 11 1/4 in. (21 × 28.6 cm) on brown-toned paper

1-Case Western University, Cleveland, OH (#22 from the edition)

2-Murray State University, Murray, KY (# unknown)  

Street Scene is a dark, dramatic lithograph of a nocturnal scene in four colors on warm brown paper. On the original photo (I cropped it before placing it here) one can see the color registration strip clearly in the right margin of the print. At first glance, this print looks like a drawing with white highlights added. In fact, Noble did create four drawings directly on the lithographic stone to complete this composite image. Prints made in this manner are each considered an original work of art. Therefore, each owner of one of the numbered prints from an edition becomes an owner of an original. For obvious reasons, the cost of a fine art print is less than one would pay for a single painting. Also, as a work on paper, a fine art print is more vulnerable to aging or damage than a painting on canvas or panel, thereby lessening its monetary value.

As a point of interest, many artists who are inclined to create fine art prints hire printmaking specialists to do the printing. An artist will create the drawing on the stone (in black, as I described above), select the colors for each separate layer, but ultimately hand the technical work over to a hired lithographer. We can admire Noble's extraordinary skill as the artist and printmaker, both. I can attest to the difficulty of creating clean, precise lithographic prints. As a student of printmaking at the University of Washington I learned the techniques but by no means mastered them. Both of the prints shown here should be considered exemplary.  

The Lighter Side of Wylie Warren Curry

(Please note: the most recent post is below.Scroll down for earlier posts in descending order. Thank you.)

 

A few months ago I heard by email from a former neighbor of my grandparents. He offered to send me a photo of a drawing done by Wylie in honor of his birthday. Here's Tom's message:

 

"My name is Tom Frenk and when I was young my grandparents were neighbors of Wylie and Mabel on Arden Ave. in Lakewood, Ohio. I had been to his house and he to my grandparents' house. He was a jovial man. I believe we all went to the same church. When I was five or six (in 1960) Wylie did a (I believe charcoal) drawing of a monkey resembling me. I was born with big stick-out ears. Had cosmetic surgery for that at age four. I've seen many of [Wylie's] artworks, mostly New England-style churches, which were a hobby interest of my Grandfather's."

 

Tom then told me that when he was able to locate the drawing, he would take a photo and send it to me. He followed through as promised, and here is the charcoal drawing:

 

Original birthday card drawn by Wylie W. Curry for Lakewood, OH neighbor Tom Frenk.

Coincidentally, my sister Kathleen and I used to call our grandfather "the monkey grandpa." This was a term of endearment because Wylie was unfailingly kindly and joking while also reminding us just a bit of a monkey in appearance! So when Tom wrote to me and I saw the illustration done by my "monkey grandpa," I was all the more touched. Thank you, Tom, for showing us the lighter side of Wylie Warren Curry.

Continued: More Noble Curry Artwork from Pennsylvania Family Members' Collections

Noble was a prolific artist starting when he was a documentary platoon artist in WWI. Here are more photos taken by me in June, 2016 during my visit with Noble's grandchildren in Pennsylvania.

A bonafide painting? Or a brush-cleaning palette? Family members are unsure! Regardless, there is a dynamism that is similar to the later abstract paintings by Noble. (Approximately 10" x 18")

Finally, two black and white etchings show an early interest in depicting the human face with a range of expressions:

A portrait, an etching, done in 1927.

An etching titled "Head."

The Family and the Art of Noble Curry

June found me traveling to Cleveland to meet up with my cousins who are the younger daughter of, and the grandchildren of Noble Curry. During one day trip out of Cleveland to SW Pennsylvania, I met 6 of the 7 children of Noble's older, deceased daughter. We gathered at one of their homes (thank you, Kitty!) and after lunch together I took photos of many of the artworks by Noble the six grandchildren had brought to share. What a rare opportunity to view more of his work and to meet these second cousins! (Janet's daylily against old barn boards announces the coming of summer.)

 

I want to thank my warm, welcoming cousins for taking time off work, for driving long distances to get together, and for sharing their original artworks from their grandfather so that I might add the images to this ongoing documentation. They are proud of their grandfather's artwork. Many of these cousins now display giclée canvas reproductions of Wylie Curry's painting of Jean Curry, my aunt. The two brothers might be surprised by this evidence of mutual appreciation shown by all the offspring.

 

In my view, the portrait of Jean was my grandfather's masterpiece. The self-portrait of Noble, below, is what I consider to be his masterpiece based on the many paintings of his I have seen and shown on this site. Others may disagree with me, but I feel that it is a standout painting worthy of being seen by many.

The power and beauty of this self-portrait by Noble Curry took my breath away when I saw it in southwest Pennsylvania in June. The piercing eyes, the nearly sweet colors and the bold strokes paint a complex man. (Approximately 30" x 40")

Noble's daughter Mary and her daughter Christy before the self-portrait.

 

Above, two mixed media paintings by Noble Curry (Approximately 16" x 20")

 

Nine second cousins and Mary, Noble's daughter, gathered around Kitty's table for lunch. A fine reunion!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two small pages from a sketchbook feature a loose watercolor scene on the left, and a pencil drawing on the right.

 

Particularly beloved by the grandchildren of Noble, this is a watercolor self-portrait. He rarely worked in this medium, especially later in life. This was painted in 1930 when he was 36.

 

A rare stone sculpture by Noble. (Approximately 13" x 7")

A black and white lithograph titled "Two People." (Approximately 10" x 14")

Noble Wilbur Curry's "Two People" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

To view a three-color stone lithograph by Noble W. Curry that is currently in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, please CLICK HERE.

For those who are interested, a stone lithograph is a print "pulled" from a finely ground slab of limestone on which the artist has drawn primarily with an oily crayon-like pencil. The stone is then carefully processed so that where the oily drawing was, a fine lithographic ink adheres when it is rolled onto the surface by hand. The process requires considerable finesse and knowledge of chemistry. To create a multi-color print in this way also requires the ability to visualize overlapping colors and textures. Noble Curry, being both a highly skilled drawer and painter, was able to do this with dramatic success.

The Two Brothers Paint Late in Life

A Thanksgiving greeting handmade for my sister in 1949.

In the late 1940's, Wylie Curry's two sons married and moved to the west coast. My uncle David started his family in California, and my father started his in Seattle. Noble Curry and his wife Peggy still lived in North Olmsted, OH. Their three children lived in and started their families in the greater Cleveland area.

The small image on the left is a Thanksgiving card my grandfather painted for my sister in 1949. Through the 40's and 50's, Wylie worked for a man named DuGar, in Cleveland, who I believe owned a sign shop. This small card is reminiscent of signage styles of the era. Wylie's personal artwork, as far as I know, consisted mainly of portraiture in oil. While his brother Noble worked as an abstract painter, Wylie's work remained highly representational. This fact contributed to the two brothers' disinterest in one another's work. 

Wylie Warren Curry, 1958, self-portrait in oil, 22"x28"

In 1958 (we think this is correct - the date is hard to read), Wylie painted the self-portrait on the right. With a direct gaze, he looks unflinchingly at us. A quiet man in life, as was his brother Noble, Grandpa was not a severe man but one would not know this to look at this portrait he painted of himself.

 

Wylie Warren Curry, 1967. Hen and Chicks, oil on canvas

The whimsical trompe-l'oeuil painting of a cupboard with a hen and her chicks was a departure for my grandfather. Painted in 1967, it was completed the year that my grandmother Mabel Curry died. This picture was one of the few my father elected to keep after the death of his father. The sketchy quality of Wylie's brushwork on this painting is unlike the heavier application of paint typical of his earlier work. The lights and darks are still distinct and easily read, however. My father may have selected this painting to keep because he enjoyed the novelty of subject matter and the composition, with its slightly canted angles and the subtle, earthy color scheme.

 

Noble Wilbur Curry, 1970, oil on canvas. This painting is similar to the ones in Noble's "Thought Series" done in the 50's and 60's.

 

In 1970, Noble Wilbur Curry painted one final abstract picture that is the latest dated painting of his that we have knowledge of. Bold strokes were layered dramatically using a strong color palette. Noble's health soon made it difficult for him to continue to paint, and his studio was essentially closed up. He was an avid reader, and an amateur astronomer, so he was not without other engaging interests. He remained very interested in the artistic impulse, and was interviewed in 1974 for the Cleveland Plain Dealer article on WPA artists.

In the late '60's, Wylie was teaching oil painting classes at The Barton Center in Lakewood, Ohio, where he met his future second wife. He and she married in 1968. Wylie sold his Lakewood, OH, home, and together he and his new wife Lydia moved to The Westerly which are apartments affiliated with the Barton Center.

Featured in The Westerly's mid-70's publication, Wylie's teaching was promoted.

On the left, Wylie Curry was photographed for a promotional page in The Westerly publication advertising the housing and the Barton Center. He is shown surrounded by his portraits of both religious and secular figures. He was especially fond of painting Abraham Lincoln, whose face had deep character. The religious subjects may have been painted as commissions for local churches. 

 

 

 

 

Publicity photo showing Wylie donating two paintings to a Cleveland church.

 

Found tucked into The Westerly publication, this publicity photo shows my grandfather standing with a priest from a church in east Cleveland. Lydia wrote on the back of the photo that Wylie donated these works to the church.

Wylie Warren Curry unexpectedly died in 1977, while he was taking his usual afternoon nap. His brother Noble Wilbur Curry died four years later, in 1981, after a period of illness. The widows of the two artists became friends after the losses of their husbands. Now, in 2012, the large family of Noble's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all live with his paintings, drawings and prints in their homes. My sister Kathleen and I own our grandfather Wylie Warren Curry's paintings, all of which have been published on this site.

Recently, I have been contacted by an individual who has likely located one more of Wylie's paintings; I am waiting to hear more from him. We all also hope to hear from those who may know of Noble Curry's 80 unaccounted-for WPA artworks. Please email me with any information if you are reading this and know of any of these pieces!

Thank you, especially, to the members of Noble's family for your ongoing interest and support in this project. I will continue to add features to this web site. Since I last posted a chapter, I have listed the documented exhibits Noble participated in. Please click here for that list.

In Pictures and Words: The Abstract Art of Noble W. Curry

 

Abtract Men, Noble Wilbur Curry, Oil, 1941

 

Noble Wilbur Curry, 1958, oil and mixed media.

"I’ll say something here about abstract painting – I wonder what we mean by abstract painting. I see it as a gradual sharpening of the artist’s power to express himself, his keener insight (also physically speaking) into the “real,” the paring away of more and more of the non-essential, - he no longer finds it necessary to build up the object he paints to a stage where it’s normally recognizable."

This excerpt is from Noble Curry's written essays, the date of writing unknown, on the nature of abstraction and modernity in mid-century painting. To read the full text of his essays, please click here.

 

 

Noble Wilbur Curry, 1950's, oil and other media. Based upon the description of the paintings exhibited in New York City in 1953, this painting and others shown on this page were probably included.

During the 1940's, Noble's paintings and prints were becoming increasingly abstract, but some elements were still identifiable (in particular, faces). By the time the 1950's arrived, his art was identified as Abstract Expressionist. He painted in his home studio in North Olmstead, Ohio, producing canvases of heavily textured paint, some of which incorporated printed paper and cardboard. In March of 1953, Noble's paintings and those of an artist named Bret Eddy (I found no information about him after an internet search) were featured in a gallery show in New York City. The name of the gallery was Creative. Two reviewers described Noble's exhibited work in contemporary art journals. This reviewer, writing for The Art Digest, seems to have understood Noble's painting:

Noble Curry piles newspaper bits, torn cardboard strips and gobbed pigment into striking paintings of black and white impact, although other colors, Rouault-like, are discernible in the ensembles. He digs into dark turbulent areas to reveal other colors beneath, and, in a final resolution, presses broad white layers over the darker ones to achieve a highly charged spatial synthesis, powerful and plastic.

 

"Thought" Series (probably), Noble Wilbur Curry, ca. 1952

In another publication, the author of this review wrote with similar insight, referring to both artists represented in this show:

 

Eddy and Curry, both newcomers, combine forces in a show of opposites. Noble Curry, from Ohio, is the more forceful and more assured, and his abstract compositions (in heavy impasto shaped like putty) of plaster and oil incorporate torn composition board, newspaper and surfaces scratched so that the underlying board curls in an added texture. These compositions seem Non-Objective at first glance, but with study the irregular shapes and crushing wedges of white coalesce with dark linear rhythms to suggest images of amorphous heads.

In reading Noble's essays, I sense the intellectual challenge my great uncle undertook in describing his own painting and what artistic impulses he responded to. To convey in words such a deep and personal activity is something many painters don't even attempt. While he refers generally to painters who worked abstractly, I felt he was indeed describing his own creative process in words we might understand. According to Noble's daughters, he stayed in touch with fellow artists. I wonder if they exchanged their written thoughts on becoming "modern" artists early in the era of abstract styles.

 

"Thought" Series, 27" h.x21" w, Noble Wilbur Curry, ca.1952, Oil

 

"Thought" Series, Noble Wilbur Curry, 1952, Oil 21" h.x23" w.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Modern Art” to begin with is only a term certain forms of art expression are identified with. The steady flow of man’s learning and his great advancement in other fields of knowledge is responsible for “modern art.” It came about simply because of man’s search for more interesting things to do.  Noble W. Curry

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All of the artwork depicted in these articles belongs to the family members of Wylie W. Curry and Noble W. Curry, who reserve all rights to reproduction of the images. If any reader should know the whereabouts of any additional artwork by these two painters, please contact me. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Jean Maxwell Curry: Portrait of a Gypsy

My grandfather, Wylie Warren Curry, was the father of three children. His firstborn, Jean, was a happy child if all the photos of her in childhood reflect her true nature. I never met Jean, as she succumbed to a liver infection one month short of her 13th birthday, in 1927. It is through the old family photos that I know her, and through the portrait of her painted by Wylie shortly before her death. We in the family assume that he painted this from life, with Jean dressed as a gypsy and sitting as a model for her father.

 

            

Above is a photo most likely taken by my grandmother while the family played on the shore of Lake Erie. Wylie, appearing very serious as usual, has squatted down to be at the same level as his children (left to right) David, Charles (my father), and the gleeful Jean.

On the back of the photo to the left, my grandmother wrote: The last snapshot I have of Jean. At the age of 12, Jean was hospitalized for an extended period, and never returned to her home in Lakewood.

Below, the portrait of Jean as a gypsy reveals her to be a poised young lady in good health and with a sweet demeanor. It is a lovely tribute to the aunt I never met. Below the portrait are more notes.

This painting is in oil, and measures 18"x24". It is not dated, but there is an exhibit entry form taped to the back, showing that my grandfather did participate in juried exhibits. This painting in particular shows Wylie's strength as a painter: he applied bold, glowing color with confident brushstrokes. A beautifully balanced composition allows the viewer's eye to travel around the canvas, taking it all in.

I know little about my grandfather's personal art practices outside of the basement painting studio he kept after his retirement. It was common for him to dress himself up in costume and paint self-portraits: he would wrap his head and become a sheik, or donn a hat unlike his usual fedora and paint himself with somewhat sinister expressions. Preferring to paint faces with character, he also painted several portraits of Abraham Lincoln.

Several family members have been interested in reproductions of this portrait of Jean. Therefore, I had the painting photographed and digitized and have had beautiful giclée prints made from the photograph. If you would be interested in ordering one, please contact me by clicking on "email me" at the top of the right hand column.

 

The WPA and the Art of Noble Wilbur Curry

Left: Self-Portrait, Noble Wilbur Curry, oil, 1936

All the paintings featured here are owned by members of Noble Curry's family. Please request permission to reproduce them in any form.

The controversial but successful program of the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of the New Deal, funded the Federal Arts Project (FAP) as a specific artists' assistance program from 1935 to 1943. Previously unemployed artists in this program were paid to create artwork for tax-supported public buildings and spaces. This allowed thousands of American artists to earn a modest but consistent amount of money during the Depression. Noble Curry joined the WPA in 1938 as a ditch digger, but somehow the word spread that he was an artist and he then joined the other artists in the Federal Arts Project in the Cleveland area. In an interview printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on February 24, 1974, he was quoted as saying that he earned $28 dollars per week as an artist working for the WPA/FAP from 1938 to 1941.

Each state staffed and administered its own FAP. To learn more about Ohio's program and the artists working within it, please click on the link below to hear a very interesting radio interview and read a related article published on September 15, 2011 by WKSU Radio at Kent State University:

 http://www.wksu.org/news/story/29394

(Thanks to Darcilla Olshavsky, one of Noble's great-granddaughters, for this link.)

Once completed, the artwork created by all the artists, including Noble's, became the property of the government. Sometimes the artists knew which cities their work was sent to, but not always. In Noble's case, some 80 works he created during his years of work in the program are unaccounted for. These artworks include paintings in watercolor and oil, and some fine art prints. Some eight of his artworks were sent to Washington, DC to be installed in public spaces. The family of Noble Curry would like to know the whereabouts of any of his FAP pieces, so if you are reading this and know of any of them, please email me (at top of right column). Any information would be most appreciated! Some of the work may be in private hands now, and some still on display in public buildings, still hanging on administrative office walls, or stored in closets.

Right: Abstract Men, Noble Wilbur Curry, oil, 1941

In 1939, Noble's painting style was becoming more abstract, which was uncommon among his Ohio peers. In the Plain Dealer article, he states, "I was doing abstracts, and a lot of Clevelanders weren't ready for that in the '30's." Perhaps the endorsement of his work that came with his participation in the Federal Art Project allowed him to flourish as a painter. His work became bold, confident in its brushstrokes, and rich in color and composition. Artists hired into the program were often those whose style of work was not particularly sellable in the '30's and '40's. Noble was in good company; other painters in the program included Thomas Hart Benton, Mark Tobey, Diego Rivera and Jackson Pollock.

By 1939, Noble and his family had moved into a home in North Olmsted, Ohio where he had space to paint. The Plain Dealer article also quotes, "Sure those were tough days, but we still had a lot of fun. We'd meet at each other's houses. I still keep in touch with old-timers like Stanley Cough, now in White Plains, NY, and Frank Fousek in St. Louis." Noble often expressed a desire to know where his FAP artwork ended up. To that end, we hope these articles provide awareness of his work and subsequent contacts with his family.

 

Left: Self-Portrait, Noble Wilbur Curry, oil, 1936

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right: Noble Wilbur Curry, Head of Man, oil, date to be confirmed

Birth, Death, and the Great Depression

1927 was a significant year for both Wylie and Noble Curry. At this time, my grandfather had moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio after working for several years at the D.L. Auld Company in Columbus. My great uncle Noble and his wife and first child, Georgeanne, also lived in the Cleveland area. In 1927, Noble's second child, Daniel, was born. He was now father to two children, and Wylie was father to three.

Neither brother created very many artworks featuring their family members, but Noble did a number of portraits of his wife Margaret ("Peggy"), and when Daniel was a few years old, ca. 1931, Noble did this etching of his wife reading to their son.

Once the stock market crash of 1929 occurred and the Great Depression began to take hold, American Home Builders, where Noble had worked for several years as a bookkeeper, folded. During the years that followed, Noble worked on his art at home, but not much sold. The family moved several times during this period, with some of the apartments having studio space for Noble, but not all. Peggy was a hard-working wife and mother, sometimes working two jobs in order to insure that the family's needs were met. Throughout their marriage, she was supportive of Noble's deep calling to being an artist. She understood this, and her understanding allowed Noble to follow this path without undue worry about consistent wage-earning on his part. During the Depression years, Peggy baked bread to sell, and also did sewing for customers.

1927 was a year of heartbreaking loss for Wylie Curry and his wife Mabel. The daughter they adored, their first-born child named Jean, died of liver disease at the age of 12 years, 11 months. I will feature my aunt Jean in a later installment. As I mentioned at the beginning of this family history project, she was the subject of one of Wylie's best portraits. And because I have very little of my grandfather's artwork to incorporate within these posts, I will hold off on publishing the portrait of Jean for the time being. Noble's family members have generously sent many images of Noble's work to me, so I will be including as many of these as possible.

I don't know where my grandfather worked at the time of Jean's death. I only recently learned that his previous employer, the D.L. Auld Co., where he designed medals, insignias and jewelry, was in Columbus, and not Cleveland. When the Depression hit, times were very difficult for many Ohio residents. According to the web site for Ohio History Central:

The Great Depression especially hurt Ohioans. In Ohio, by 1933, more than forty percent of factory workers and sixty-seven percent of construction workers were unemployed. Approximately fifty percent of industrial workers in Cleveland and eighty percent in Toledo were unemployed. In 1932, Ohio's unemployment rate for all residents reached 37.3 percent. Industrial workers who retained their jobs usually faced reduced hours and wages. These people had a difficult time supporting their families. Many of Ohio's city residents moved to the countryside, where they hoped to grow enough food to feed their families.

My father told me that to help put food on the table, my grandmother took in ironing. It was humiliating to my father to have to deliver by bicycle the freshly ironed clothes to the customers. My grandfather continued to do commercial art for whatever company brought him to Cleveland from Columbus, but he was paid erratically and never in full for the work he did. Eventually, he would take a job with a different employer named Du Gar, at which time the steady income resumed.

For both artists, then, the early 1930's were difficult and uncertain as they were for so many citizens of Ohio and the nation as a whole. The two brothers and their wives figured out ways to survive through their artwork and other creative means. Noble's third child, Mary, was born in 1931. Later in the decade, Noble would create hundreds of artworks for the Works Progress Administration (the WPA). This prolific period would lead him to become an "extremely contemporary artist," as the Cleveland Plain Dealer would call him some years later. I will write about this in my next installment.

The etching shown below is in the keeping of Noble's daughter, Mary (Curry) Shirley.

One of five landscape etchings known to have been done by Noble Curry in the 1930's. He would soon tend toward successively more abstract paintings and prints. (My apologies for the glare in the frame glass.)

My thanks to the family members of Noble Wilbur Curry for supplying images of his artwork and details of his life. Please do write to me with corrections and additions to these writings. If any other readers of this family history know the whereabouts of any artworks by either brother, we in their families would like to hear from you.