Untitled (Angel Flying Money to the Lions in Front of The Art Institute of Chicago)

John Steuart Currys Untitled (Angel Flying Money to the Lions in Front of The Art Institute of Chicago) from 1945 is a pen and ink drawing with typed letters on typing paper that satirizes the relationship between art, money, and institutional power in mid-century America with the directness and humor that characterize Currys best work. The drawing, which depicts an angel flying over the famous lion sculptures that flank the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago and showering them with money, is a visual joke that operates on multiple levels: the lions, symbols of institutional authority and cultural prestige, receive the financial sustenance that keeps them guarding the temple of art; the angel, a figure of divine beneficence, is reduced to a delivery system for cash; and the Art Institute itself, one of the great museums of the United States, is gently mocked as an institution that depends on the financial support of wealthy patrons. The pen and ink medium on typing paper gives the drawing the character of a private joke or a working sketch rather than a finished work of art, an impression reinforced by the typed letters, which may be captions, labels, or additional commentary on the visual satire. The year 1945, at the end of World War II and the end of Currys life, gives the drawing the quality of a late testament, a final statement from an artist who had spent his career navigating the relationship between artistic integrity and institutional support.

Currys satirical drawings provide a counterpoint to his more solemn Regionalist paintings, revealing a dimension of humor and institutional critique that expands our understanding of Regionalism beyond its reputation for earnest celebration of rural life. The drawing of the angel flying money to the lions is a particularly pointed commentary on the relationship between art and money.

A 1945 pen and ink drawing on typing paper by Curry satirizing the relationship between art, money, and institutional power, depicting an angel flying money to the Art Institute of Chicagos guardian lions with typed commentary.