Provenance:
Scott Kerr, author of An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, 1930-1940 (label on the reverse)
Lot note:
Joseph Paul Vorst was born in 1897 in Essen, Germany. From a young age, he proved talented at drawing and pursued an education in the arts, which culminated with his enrollment at the Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1930. There, he became acquainted with the works of prominent Expressionist and Impressionist painters of the era. With Nazism on the rise, Vorst denounced the systematic censoring of Jewish artists and subsequently fled the deleterious climate in Germany, to eventually settle in Saint-Louis.
Prior to emigrating to the United States, Vorst was baptized and joined The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints, remaining an active member until his death in 1947. His dedication to his faith instilled in him life-long values of compassion and profound kinship with others, which in turn permeated his artistic output. He quickly embraced the social realist aesthetic that pervaded the arts in the context of the Great Depression, frequently participating in the programs of the WPA, and exhibiting his work widely to the public. His paintings translate his deep engagement with the communities affected by the economic crisis, never shying away from the controversial topics of race and class, and portraying the familiar themes of labor and economic hardship with benevolence and dignity.