Art Commentary for the Middlebrow: Promoting Modernism & Modern Art through Popular Culture—How Life Magazine Brought “The New” into Middle-Class Homes

Abstract

This study examines the role of Life in defining a new lifestyle based on modernism in the interwar period. With its first issue in 1936, Life embodied modernity as it pioneered a way of reaching an audience through the photo-essay. Life's presentation of art and modernity, one thread in training its readers how to be middle class, is placed within the artistic and cultural environment of the time. This paper argues that the editors of Life “domesticated” modern art through a series of strategies: monetary value, artistic practice, and biography. Life's tying of art to modernity is discussed within the context of other institutions that also believed art was integral to creating modern society — the Museum of Modern Art and the federal government through the WPA. An examination of the interplay among these three cultural actors provides insight into the larger historical issues of art production, circulation, and consumption, and the role of the government, elite institutions, and the media in promulgating art standards. This study combined three methodological approaches: an investigation of archival material, a textual analysis of all 262 issues from 1936 to the outbreak of World War II, and a content analysis of 4,522 images in 76 categories. Sheila Webb is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at Western Washington University, 516 High St., Bellingham, WA 98225. 360–650–6245 sheila.webb@wwu.edu