New Deal/W.P.A. Art in California
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 |
|
Alhambra |
Gordon K. Grant |
"El Indio," "El Gringo," and "El Paysano" |
1938 |
tempera |
|
Bell |
Stuart Holmes |
"Eagle" |
1937 |
sculpture |
|
|
Suzanne Scheuer |
"Incidents in California History" |
1937 |
mural |
|
|
David Slivka |
"Pony Express - Early California" |
1937 |
limestone relief |
|
Beverly Hills |
Charles Kassler |
"Post Rider" and "Air Mail" |
1936 |
fresco |
|
Burbank |
Barse Miller |
"People of Burbank" |
1940 |
fresco |
|
|
James L. Hansen |
"The Letter" |
1941 |
cast stone |
|
|
George Samerjan |
"Lettuce Workers" |
1942 |
tempera |
|
Canoga Park |
Maynard Dixon |
"Palomino Ponies - 1840" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Claremont |
Stuart Holmes |
"Eagle" |
1936 |
sculpture |
|
Claremont |
Milford Zornes |
"California Landscape" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Colton |
Sherry Peticolas and Gordon Newell |
"Eagle" |
1936 |
(funded by TRAP) |
|
Compton |
James Redmond |
"Early California" |
1936 |
mural |
|
Covina |
Atanas Katchamakoff |
"Covina Desert Orange Groves" |
1941 |
Spanish cedar relief |
|
Culver City |
George Samerjan |
"Studio Lot" |
1942 |
tempera |
|
Eureka, |
Thomas Laman |
"Mining and Forestry" |
1936 |
egg tempera on canvas |
|
Fresno, |
Helen Bruton |
"RFD - I" and "RFD - II" |
1940 |
terra-cotta reliefs |
|
Fresno, |
William H. Calfee |
American eagles |
1940 |
cast concrete |
|
Fresno, |
Archibald Garner |
"Justice" |
1940 |
cast concrete relief |
|
Fresno, |
Henry Varnum Poor |
"Grape Picking" |
1942 |
painted, glazed ceramic tile |
|
Fullerton |
Paul Julian |
"Orange Pickers" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Gardena |
Rudolph Parducci |
"Rural Life" |
1941 |
carved mahogany relief |
|
|
Tom E. Lewis |
"Rural Landscape" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Hollister |
Vladimir Nemkoff (Joseph Stone and Avis Zeigler, Assistants) |
"History of San Juan (Bautista) Mission" |
1936 |
wood |
|
Hollywood |
Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas |
"Horseman" |
1937 |
wood |
|
Huntington Park |
Norman Chamberlain |
"History of California" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Archibald Garner |
"Centinella Springs" |
1937 |
mahogany relief |
|
|
Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas |
"Buffalo and Bear" and "Ram and Lion" |
1937 |
plaster facade |
|
La Jolla |
Belle Baranceanu |
"California Landscape" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Jose Moya del Pino |
"Hauling Water Pipe through Antelope Valley" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Livermore |
Robert B. Howard |
"The Ranch Post Box" |
1941 |
oak relief |
|
Los Angeles, |
Edward Biberman |
"Los Angeles - Prehistoric and Spanish Colonial" and "Creative Man" |
1939 and 1941 |
oil on canvas (in storage) |
|
Los Angeles, |
Archibald Garner |
"Law" |
1941 |
limestone |
|
Los Angeles, |
James L. Hansen |
"Young Lincoln" |
1941 |
limestone |
|
Los Angeles, |
Lucien Labaudt |
"Spanish and American Ranches" and "Aerodynamics" |
1938 and 1941 |
restored in 1993 |
|
Los Angeles, |
Henry Lion |
"Eagles" (two) |
1938 |
cast stone, facade |
|
Los Angeles, Terminal Annex |
Boris Deutsch |
"Cultural Constributions of North, South and Central America" |
1944 |
tempera (ten lunettes) |
|
|
Lew E. Davis |
"Early Spanish Caballeros" |
1940 |
tempera (now City History Museum) |
|
Manteca |
Conrad Buff |
"Rural Life" |
1940 |
mural |
|
Martinez |
Maynard Dixon and Edith Hamlin |
"The Road to Eldorado" |
1939 |
tempera |
|
Maywood |
George Samerjan |
"Industry," "Home," and "Recreation" |
1941 |
mural |
|
Merced |
Helen Forbes |
"Early Settlers" |
1937 |
tempera |
|
Merced |
Dorothy Puccinelli |
"Vacheros" |
1937 |
temerpa |
|
|
Ray Boynton |
"Agriculture," "Mining," and "Irrigation" |
1936 |
tempera (funded by Section and TRAP) - 13 lunettes - 6 lunettes missing |
|
Monrovia |
Helen Forbes |
"Grizzly Bear and Cubs" |
1940 |
mural |
|
Montebello |
Clay Spohn |
"Fiesta Procession in Old California" |
1938 |
tempera (destroyed) |
|
Monterey |
Henrietta Shore |
"Monterey Bay" |
1937 |
mural |
|
Oceanside |
Elise Seeds |
"Air Mail" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Oceanside |
Stuart Holmes |
"Eagle" |
1936 |
carved grille (funded by Section and TRAP) |
|
Ontario |
Nellie G. Best |
"The Dream" and |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Oxnard |
Daniel M. Mendelowitz |
"Oxnard Panorama" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Victor Arnautoff |
"Lovers' Point" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Placerville |
Tom E. Lewis |
"Forest Genetics" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Redondo Beach |
Paul Sample |
"Excursion Train and Picnickers in the Nineties," "Sheep Farming and Ocean Near Redondo," and "Fishing from Redondo Dock" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Jose Moya del Pino |
"Flower Farming and Vegetable Raising" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Boris Deutsch |
"Grape Pickers" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Richmond |
Victor Arnautoff |
"Richmond - Industrial City" |
1941 |
oil on canvas (missing) |
|
Roseville |
Zygmund Sazevich |
"The Letter" |
1937 |
wood relief (funded by TRAP) |
|
|
Lew Keller |
"Grape Pickers" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Salinas |
Richard O'Hanlon |
"Cowboy," "Cattleman," and "Cowboy and Horse" |
1937 |
walnut reliefs (funded by TRAP) |
|
San Diego, |
Archibald Garner |
"Transportation of the Mail" |
1937 |
terra-cotta reliefs (nine) |
|
San Fernando |
Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas |
"Transportation of the Mail" |
1936 |
wood reliefs (seven) |
|
San Francisco, U.S. Mint |
Albert Stewart |
"Minting Process" |
1937 |
bronze reliefs (four) |
|
San Francisco, Rincon Annex |
Anton Refregier |
"History of San Francisco" |
1947 - 48 |
casein on wall (twenty-nine panels) |
|
San Gabriel |
Ray Strong |
"San Gabriel County" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
San Mateo |
Thomas Laman |
"Scenes of Early California" |
1937 |
tempera |
|
San Mateo |
Zygmund Sazevich |
"Indian Maidens" |
1937 |
metal |
|
San Pedro |
Fletcher Martin |
"Mail Transportation" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
San Rafael |
Oscar Galgiani |
"San Rafael Creek - 1851" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Santa Barbara |
William Atkinson |
"Transportation of the Mail" |
1937 |
plaster, six sunken reliefs |
|
Santa Clara |
Michael von Meyer |
"Early Pioneers" |
1937 |
wood (funded by TRAP) |
|
Santa Cruz |
Henrietta Shore |
"Cabbage Farming," "Limestone Quarries," "Artichoke," and "Fishing" |
1937 |
oil on canvas (funded by TRAP) |
|
|
Mallette Dean |
"Agriculture" |
1937 |
mural |
|
|
Norman Chamberlain |
"Land of Irrigation" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
South Pasadena |
John Law Walker |
"The Stage Coach" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
South San Francisco |
Victor Arnautoff |
"South San Francisco in Past and Present" |
1941 |
oil on canvas - three panels |
|
Stockton, |
Frank Bergman |
"Modern Transportation of the Mails" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
Stockton, |
Jose Moya del Pino |
"Mail and Travel by Stage Coach" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Helen Forbes |
"Deer" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Tracy |
Edith Hamlin |
"Spaniards," |
1938 |
oil on canvas (2 recovered; 1 mural missing) |
|
Turlock |
James A. Holden |
"Arrival of the Stage" |
1938 |
mural |
|
Ukiah |
Benjamin Cunningham |
"Resources of the Soil" |
1939 |
mural |
|
Vacaville (location see below)* |
Emrich Nicholson |
"Fruit Season, Vacaville" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Venice |
Edward Biberman |
"The Story of Venice" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Gordon K. Grant |
"Agriculture and Industries of Ventura" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Whittier |
Thomas Laman |
"Boy with Sheep" |
1938 |
tempera |
|
|
George Harris |
"Farm Life" |
1937 |
tempera |
|
|
Katherine Works |
"The Trek of Father Crespi - 1777" |
1938 |
mural |
|
Yuba City |
Lulu H. Braghetta |
"The Wealth of Sutter County" |
1942 |
wood relief |
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
*Monrovia, CA Post Office - The Monrovia CA mural has not been destroyed as reported in Democratic Vistas. This mural is actually rolled up in the basement of the Post Office. The city is trying to get grant money to have it restored and placed in the city library (information courtesy of Jimmy Emerson)
*Vacaville, CA Post Office - the building is currently being used as The Old Post Office Seafood and Grill, 301 Main Street, Vacaville, CA 95688 (phone: 707-447-1858)
California New Deal Art Listing (not comprehensive) April 2, 1937 - pdf file (65.5 kb)
The Golden Gate Exposition of 1939 - held on Treasure Island, San Francisco
New Deal/WPA Art in California Cities:
Belvedere - oil on canvas decorative panel (masonite) - 3 x 12 feet by Selden G. Gile for the Belvedere Public Library (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
Bernal
Heights - 500 Cortland, S.F. (415) 695-5160 -
"The mural-wrapped Bernal Heights branch of the San Francisco Public
Library, a 1939 WPA project, still retains its original painted details
and gorgeous light fixtures."
Burbank, CA - there is an 11 x 22 foot mural by Hugo Ballin in the Burbank City Hall building located on Olive Avenue. It is located behind the City Council dais and depicts the "four freedoms" of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 speech (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear).
Burlingame - there are three WPA murals done by Frederick Pawla in the Burlingame High School - Check out David Newman's page plus you can also visit the school page
Carmel - oil on canvas mural by Armin Hansen, Sunset Grammar School (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
College of Marin - Maurice Del Mue mural originally installed in the Science Building. (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
Fullerton - there is a WPA mural installed in the Fullerton High School.
Inglewood - Helen Lundeberg's mural series "The History of Transportation" is currently being restored (photos of the restoration)
Long Beach - a magnificent mosaic created in 1938 for the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium - now in danger of being lost to the public: article by Ana Maria McGuan, Long Beach Heritage, October 2005 newsletter pdf (88.6 kb). For more information about the effort to save the Long Beach mural, email Ms. McGuan
Los Gatos - in 1939, Clay Spohn completed a mural under the sponsorship of the WPA for Los Gatos Union High School.
Mill Valley - Maurice Del Mue mural - Initially installed in the Tamalpais High School, the 8 x 38 foot mural by Del Mue was removed from the wall of the high school library in the 1960s and rolled up face-in, causing extensive damage and compression cracks. It is entitled "The Golden Hills of Marin." It is currently being restored and will be re-installed in Wood Hall in Tam High School. Another WPA mural by Maurice Del Mue for Tam H.S. entitled "The Redwoods" was also removed in the 1960s but has been lost. In addition to the Del Mue murals, there was a pair of mosaic panels ("Comedy" and "Tragedy") funded by the WPA and created for Mead Theater. They are also in the process of being restored. For information about the Tam High School mural restoration, go to www.artfortam.org. (ref:
Modesto - The Modesto Post Office is being closed - it houses a series of Ray Boynton murals, now in danger!
Newport Beach - both the Newport Beach Elementary School and the High School have WPA art.
Oakland - two panels of inlaid, colored marble with backing of gold and silver leaf for lobby of the new Alameda County Court House, Oakland, design by Mrs. Marian Simpson. (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
Pacific Grove - a series of three panels by August Gay and Bruce Ariss for Pacific Grove High School; mural by Burton S. Boundey - main entrance, Pacific Grove High School (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
Sacramento - there is a series of murals painted under WPA/FAP funding by Lucile Lloyd. The three murals were dedicated on October 16, 1937 at the first Los Angeles State Building at 217 West First Street, hung in an Assembly room. The middle was 16'x13' and side panels were 6.5'x13'. They were moved after the original site was damaged in the 1971 LA Earthquake. The murals are titled "California's Name" and now reside in the Senate Committee Room, Sacramento.
Salinas - there is a large granite panther created by Raymond Puccinelli under the WPA for the Salinas Junior College
San Germonimo - The 1934 Maurice Del Mue WPA mural is on display at the San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center, 6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd in San Germonimo and in the process of being restored thanks to the Trillium Fund.
San Jose - oil on canvas panel by John Garth, Hoover Jr. High School; two oil on canvas panels by John Garth, Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School (source: "Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress" April 1, 1937)
San Pedro - There are several examples of New Deal art in San Pedro, CA. In the Richard Henry Dana Middle School located at 1501 Cabrillo Ave. (at 15th St.) there are two murals in the school cafeteria which were created by WPA artist Adrien Machefert in 1934 entitled "Life and Travels of Richard Henry Dana, Jr." They are oil on canvas; both measure 8' x 42'. Machefert was assisted by Joseph Sena and James Haggart. In the San Pedro High School, at 15th and Alma streets there is a series of murals by Tom Tyrone Comfort entitled "Industrial Life in San Pedro" dated 1937. The murals are oil on canvas, 9 panels, 4' x 8' (4 panels) and 10' x 8' (5 panels).
Santa Cruz
Santa Monica - articles (LA Times; Chicago Tribune) about the restoration of Stanton MacDonald-Wright's murals for the Santa Monica Public Library
Sonora - High School library murals - you can access the AAA oral history transcript of George Post, the artist, talking about his work for the Sonora H.S. library murals.
Torrance - The WPA-Federal Art Project mural by A. Katherine Skeele (Dann) entitled "Home Life in Old Taos" in the auditorium of Torrance High School was recently cleaned and restored. It was painted in 1936-37 and depicts Pueblo Indian men and women working on daily tasks, such as grinding corn and collecting water from a river near their adobe dwellings in Taos
US Fleeting Training Base, CA - "Landscape" by George Chan, oil on canvas (received 5-25-1942) 30"x16" (funded under the So. Cal. WPA Art Project).
California Digitization Project:
"The On-line Archive of California brings together historical materials
from a variety of California institutions, including museums, historical
societies, and archives. Over 120,000 images; 50,000 pages of documents,
letters, and oral histories; and 8,000 guides to collections are available."
©2005 Nancy Lorance
All Rights Reserved.
