The Pioneer Mother

John Steuart Curry, artist

1897–1946

The Pioneer Mother, 1941–1942

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: charcoal pencil; gouache

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 508 x 381 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 20 x 15 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 25 x 20 in

Credit line: Gift of Daniel Bradley Schuster

Accession number: 1994.0096

Not on display

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Label texts

Collection Cards: Heroes

Kansas artist John Steuart Curry made this sketch of the pioneer mother for a character in a ballet about the prairie. Pioneers traveled to unknown places such as Kansas to settle. They faced many challenges while creating new lives for their families. The pioneer mother represents a kind of everyday hero who works hard to care for her family in a new place.

What other qualities make mothers everyday heroes?

The artist John Steuart Curry was from Oskaloosa, Kansas, and is famous for creating works of art about the Midwest. He is particularly well known for painting a series of murals in the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka.

Exhibition Label:
"John Steuart Curry: Agrarian Allegories," Aug-2006, Kate Meyer
The American Ballet Theater inaugurated their 1941-1942 season by commissioning Curry to create sets and costumes for a new ballet originally titled Pagan Poem, based on Carl Sandburg’s 1918 poem, “Prairie.” Curry envisioned the world of “Prairie” inhabited by personifications of the elements, crops, and animals of the region. The Prairie Girl would be the ballet’s female lead, the set a massive sunrise, and two larger-scale figures, The Pioneer Father and The Pioneer Mother, would oversee the Midwestern tableaux from the background. These designs were not in keeping with choreographer Eugene Loring’s more understated intentions for the ballet, and only some of Curry’s color choices influenced the set and costumes.

Curry’s designs for “Prairie” were eventually realized in 2001, with the production of composer Eugene Friesen’s ballet Carl Sandburg’s “Prairie”. Lawrence’s own Prairie Wind Dancers wore costumes that were based on Curry’s sketches and were created by Rob Faust and Ione Unruh, with choreography by Candi Baker.