The Depression
As a result of the stock market crash of 1929, Sol Kogen’s financial position was severely impacted. Consequently, during the depression, Kogen relied more and more on Carl Street Studios as a means of revenue. The “art for art sake” spirit of the complex diminished somewhat, and Kogen apparently began demanding that the studio spaces be made smaller in order to increase the number of paying tenants. A rift thus developed between the art-inspired Miller and the cashed strapped Kogen and by 1936, Miller ceased work on the project altogether. It must also be said that, by this time, Miller’s work was in high demand commercially, and it is unlikely that he was contributing much to the complex anyway. With Edgar Miller’s departure, most of the on-going art work in the studio complex was completed by the versatile Jesus Torres, who had been Miller’s primary apprentice. During the ensuing decades, generations of artisans and craftsmen (and craftswomen) have worked on the exteriors and interiors of the studio complex.
Read more about this topic: Carl Street Studios
Famous quotes containing the word depression:
“Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the grand-daughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery is sixty years in the past. The operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you. The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said “On the line!” The Reconstruction said “Go!” I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)