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Our Good Earth

Artist John Steuart Curry (American, 1897–1946)
Title Our Good Earth
Date 1942
Medium Lithograph on paper
Dimensions Image: 12 3/4 x 10 1/8 in. (32.4 x 25.7 cm)
Sheet: 16 3/4 x 12 5/8 in. (42.5 x 32.1 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Thomas T. Solley, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 68.123.33

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About this Work

Regionalist artist John Steuart Curry's iconic image of Depression-era resilience depicts a heroic young farmer standing watch over his children and America's "amber waves of grain." It has been interpreted as a symbol of hope, plenty, and patriotic identity. For this very reason the U.S. Department of the Treasury commissioned a painting (based on the 1938 lithograph) for a war bond poster with the message: "Our Good Earth…Keep It Ours." The poster proved so popular that the Associated American Artists reissued this second version of the print.


Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

Publisher Associated American Artists

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"Our Good Earth | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=68.123.33