Curry, John Steuart, 1897–1946, American painter, b. Dunavant, Jefferson co., Kans. He spent his youth on his father's farm. In 1916 he entered the Kansas City Art Institute and later studied in Chicago and New York and in Paris. His early paintings of Kansas life, such as Baptism in Kansas, aroused interest by their simple and authentic character. He often chose typically American subject matter, from rural life to circus scenes, which he depicted with a dramatic flair. In addition to his oil paintings he is well known for his murals, such as those in the Dept. of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., and the statehouse in Topeka, Kans.
See L. E. Schmeckebier, John Steuart Curry's Pageant of America (1943).
