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Masculinity: the Veteran-Artist and Figural Representation in Postwar Chicago, 1946-1959

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Masculinity: the Veteran-Artist and Figural Representation in Postwar Chicago, 1946-1959 ‘Monster’ Masculinity: The Veteran-Artist and Figural Representation in Postwar Chicago, 1946-1959 Elizabeth Maynard Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal June 2014 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Elizabeth Maynard, 2014 ii iii Abstract This dissertation examines the formation and milieu of a group of artists working in Chicago after the Second World War, known as the “Monster Roster.” It argues that this group was marginalized in large part because the grotesque and vulnerable bodies often depicted in its artists’ work were incompatible with the dominant trend of abstraction in postwar American art and art history, as well as the national political project of solidifying the United States’ reputation as a powerful, liberating force on the global stage. It also contends that the veteran status of many Monster Roster artists made them suspect subjects in the postwar “crisis of masculinity,” further rendering them inadequate bearers of the avant-garde reputation that was being constructed around New York School artists. This project adds substance and texture to the current conversations about postwar American art by bringing into focus both the marginalized site of Chicago and the virtually unexplored subject-position of the Second World War veteran. Building on important literature that has re-politicized the content and context of Abstract Expressionist artwork, this dissertation elucidates the tensions between the constructions of New York abstraction and Chicago figural representation. These constructions were often erroneously posited as binary opposites during a period in which conversations about art, and its aesthetic and political implications, adopted increasingly strident tones. This project also explores the postwar construction of the embodied ideal male subject as a signifier of state power. While the male veteran may have represented the nation’s military victory overseas, he also revealed the vulnerability of the male body. Postwar public discourse often obscured the harrowing events of the war—including veteran experience—in favor of celebratory rhetoric. By examining the intertwining structures that resulted in the marginalization of Chicago as a site of cultural production, figural representation as a mode of image-making, and the veteran as a non- normative male subject, I situate the artists of the Monster Roster and their artworks in the political and cultural context of postwar America. iv Résumé Cette thèse examine la création et le milieu d'un groupe d'artistes qui travaillèrent à Chicago après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, connu sous le nom «Monster Roster.» Elle fait valoir que ce groupe fut marginalisé en grande partie parce que les corps grotesques et vulnérables souvent représentés dans leurs oeuvres étaient incompatibles avec la tendance dominante de l'abstraction dans l’histoire de l’art et l’art américain de l’après-guerre, ainsi que le projet nationale politique de solidifier les États-Unis comme une force puissante et libératrice sur la scène mondiale. Elle soutient également que le statut de vétéran de nombreux artistes de «Monster Roster» les a rendus sujets marginaux au point de vue de la «crise de la masculinité» d’après-guerre, en tant que porteurs inadéquats de la réputation avant-garde qui a été construit autour d'artistes de l'école de New York. Cette thèse ajoute de la substance et de la texture aux conversations en cours sur l'art américain de l’après-guerre en mettant en lumière à la fois le site marginalisé de Chicago et le sujet pratiquement inexploré du vétéran de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En s'appuyant sur la littérature importante qui a politisé le contenu et le contexte de l'expressionnisme abstrait, cette thèse élucide les tensions entre les constructions de l’art abstrait de New York et la représentation de l’art figuratif de Chicago. Ces constructions furent souvent posées à tort comme oppositions binaires pendant une époque où le discours publics sur l'art, l’esthétique, et les implications politiques sont devenus plus stridents. Ce projet explore également la construction d'après-guerre de l'idéal mâle conçu comme symbolique du pouvoir d'Etat. Alors que le vétéran mâle pouvait représentér la victoire militaire de la nation à l'étranger, il a également révélé la vulnérabilité du corps masculin chez soi. Pendant les années d'après- guerre les terribles événements et les expériences des vétérans sont mis aux ténèbres en faveur de la rhétorique de célébration. En examinant les structures entrelacées qui ont abouti à la marginalisation de Chicago en tant que site de production culturelle, la représentation figurative comme un mode de fabrication d'images, et le vétéran comme un sujet mâle hors normatif, je situe les artistes de la «Monster Roster» et leurs oeuvres d'art dans le contexte politique et culturel de l'après-guerre en Amérique. v Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and help of a range of sources. My research was generously supported by the McGill Faculty of Arts and greatly facilitated by the archivists and staff of the institutions I visited. In particular I would like to thank Alice Kain of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago and Elizabeth Wolf of the Block Gallery, Northwestern University, as well as the staff of the Northwestern University Archives, the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Archives of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Roger Brown Study Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lynne Warren, curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, took the time to share her expertise with me and was especially helpful in utilizing the primary sources collected for her important edited volume Art in Chicago: 1945- 1975. I offer special thanks to Richard Born, curator of the Smart Museum, who was exceedingly generous with his time, insight, and good humor. Similar thanks is due to Gilda Buchbinder, who very graciously invited me to see her very important collection, and artist Leo Segedin, who shared with me his recollections of working as an artist in postwar Chicago. The Department of Art History and Communications has been a supportive and friendly environment and I am grateful for the staff, faculty, and students who have helped me grow as a scholar. I would like to express my gratitude to Maureen Coote, who was always ready with thorough and thoughtful answers about navigating this process. I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Hunter for her kindness and encouragement, and Dr. Christine Ross whose interest, support, and dedication have been invaluable. I am also extremely grateful to my supervisor Dr. Amelia Jones, whose intellectual rigor and thoughtful work have been an inspiration. Her insight and enthusiastic guidance has made this process all the more fulfilling. Many friends have contributed in incalculable ways to the completion of this project. I would especially like to thank David Mitchell, who offered his unflagging support and shrewdly organized a writing group that was crucial to the completion of this project—Sarah Ghabrial, Douglas Hanes, and Heather Mills provided keen criticism and motivation. I would also like to single out Sarah Malik, whose thoughtfulness makes her both an excellent friend and colleague, and Karlyn Meyer, who has shared with me her editing expertise, her intelligent commentary, her home in Chicago, and has shown me innumerable kindnesses both large and small. The Museum of Work & Culture of the Rhode Island Historical Society has afforded me both a stable and supportive work environment, which has allowed me to complete this dissertation. I offer them all my thanks for their encouragement and flexibility, and Susan Shea and Anne Conway in particular for their editing assistance. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, Maxine Olson, and siblings, Julia and Michael Bem, Michael Greene, Max Maynard, Sydney Maynard, whose love and support has made this project possible. This dissertation is for my father, Leonard Maynard, WWII veteran and dedicated feminist, who taught me many things, but perhaps none more important than the value of kindness and the fragility of life. vi Table of Contents Abstract/Résumé ............................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................................ vii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Groundwork ................................................................................................................................ 7 The Monster Roster................................................................................................................... 23 Structure .................................................................................................................................... 36 A Methodological Coda ...........................................................................................................
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