A Tangled Mess
Date1936
Artist
Elmer R. Messner
(American cartoonist, 1901–1979)
Illustration CitationProbably for Rochester Times-Union, 1936.
MediumInk, crayon, and blue pencil on paper
Dimensionscomposition: 12 9/16 × 10 in. (31.9 × 25.4 cm)
sheet: 19 × 14 7/8 in. (48.3 × 37.8 cm)
sheet: 19 × 14 7/8 in. (48.3 × 37.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1987
Object number1987-44
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextA native of Rochester, New York, Elmer Messner studied at the Art Students League and then returned to illustrate for the Rochester Times-Union. He also taught drawing at Rochester Institute of Technology from 1925 to 1945. His cartoons appeared in numerous American and international newspapers and magazines. After some years at Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle, he returned to the Times until his 1964 retirement.This cartoon speaks to a perennial American quandry: the complexity of the tax system. Highlighted in particular are the complications of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (the A. A. A. in the upper left), legislation related to American famers. In 1936, the Supreme Court struck down the law, which resulted in a new set of confusing taxes and regulations.
