New Deal/WPA Art in Mississippi
Post Office New Deal Artwork
Most of the Post Office works of art were funded through commissions under the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later known as The Section of Fine Arts) and not the WPA.
"Often mistaken for WPA art, post office murals were actually executed by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts. Commonly known as "the Section," it was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. Headed by Edward Bruce, a former lawyer, businessman, and artist, the Section's main function was to select art of high quality to decorate public buildings if the funding was available. By providing decoration in public buildings, the art was made accessible to all people." from "Articles from EnRoute : Off The Wall: New Deal Post Office Murals" by Patricia Raynor
Unless indicated, works of art are located in the US Post Office building.
|
Location |
Artist |
Title |
Date |
Medium |
|
|
John McCrady |
"Amory in 1889" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Batesville |
Eve Kottgen |
"Cotton Plantation" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Bay Saint Louis |
Louis Raynaud |
"Life on the Coast" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Stefan Hirsch |
"Scenic and Historic Booneville" |
1943 |
oil on canvas |
|
Carthage |
Peter Dalton |
"Lumbermen Rolling a Log" |
1941 |
wood relief |
|
Columbus |
Beulah Bettersworth |
"Out of the Soil" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Crystal Springs |
Henry La Cagnina |
"Harvest" |
1943 |
oil on canvas |
|
Durant |
Isidore Toberoff |
"Erosion, Reclamation, and Conservation of the Soil" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Eupora |
Tom Savage |
"Cotton Farm" |
1945 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Julien Binford |
"Forest Loggers" |
1941 |
mural |
|
Hazelhurst |
Auriel Bessemer |
"Life in the Mississippi Cotton Belt" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Houston |
Byron Burford, Jr. |
"Posst near Houston, Natchez Trace, 1803" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Indianola |
Beulah Bettersworth |
"White Gold in the Delta" |
1939 |
oil on canvas (destroyed) |
|
Jackson, |
Simka Simkhovitch |
"Pursuits of Life in Mississippi" |
1938 |
mural |
|
Leland |
Stuart R. Purser |
"Ginnin' Cotton" |
1940 |
tempera |
|
Louisville |
Karl Wolfe |
"Crossroads" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Macon |
S. Douglass Crockwell |
"Signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek" |
1944 |
mural |
|
Magnolia |
John H. Fyfe |
"Magnolia in 1880," "Cotton Harvest," and "July Fourth Celebration at Sheriff Bacot's" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
New Albany |
Robert C. Purdy |
"Milking Time" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Newton |
Mary and Frank Boggs |
"Economic Life in Newton in Early 40's" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Okolona |
Harold G. Egan |
"The Richness of the Soil" |
1939 |
mural |
|
Pascagoula |
Lorin Thompson |
"Legend of the Singing River" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Picayune |
Donald H. Robertson |
"Lumber Region of Mississippi" |
1940 |
mural |
|
|
Joseph Pollet |
"The Wedding of Ortez and Sa-Owana - Christmas 1540" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Ripley |
George Aarons |
"Development of the Postal Service" |
1939 |
three cast stone reliefs |
|
Tylertown |
Lucile Blanch |
"Rural Mississippi - From Early Days to Present" |
1941 |
tempera |
|
Vicksburg, |
Amiard Oberteuffer |
"Vicksburg - Its Character and Industries" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Waynesboro |
Ross E. Braught |
"Waynesboro Landscape" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
All mural images depicted
on this site are used with permission
of the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
Source:
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
by Marlene Park & Gerald E. Markowitz
*information sent by Jimmy Emerson
Articles about Mississippi New Deal Art:
"Murals in the Post Office Series: Forest Loggers in Forest" by Sylvia Krebs in The New Southern View at www.newsouthernview.com
© 2007 Nancy Lorance
All Rights Reserved.