Life — June 12, 1919 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 1026 This page satirizes the American art establishment's dismissal of Western and Midwestern culture. The main article criticizes how Eastern cultural gatekeepers—centered on Broadway and New York—ignore art from regions like Oklahoma and Kansas. Professor Oscar B. Jacobson is cited arguing that Western states lack time for "Art, music or literature" due to industrial preoccupation. The top illustration titled "For What Got Squaw?" depicts Native Americans, sardonically commenting on Western artistic subjects deemed primitive or exotic by Eastern elites. The lower cartoon, "The New Sherlock," shows two men discussing an apparent theft—likely satirizing how Eastern sophisticates view Western culture as unsophisticated or criminal. The satire targets regional cultural bias and Eastern snobbery toward non-coastal American artistic contributions.