Washington, DC New Deal Art

New Deal/WPA Art in Washington, D.C.

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

Location	Artist	Title	Date	Medium
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Richard Barthe	"American Eagle"	1940	sculpture
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Emma Lou Davis	"Family Group" and "Unemployment Compensation"	1941	sculpture
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security) (now stored in National Museum of American Art)	Dorothy and Fred Farr	"Sports Related to Food"	1942	mural
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Seymour Fogel	"Wealth of the Nation" and "Security of the People"	1942	mural
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security) (now stored in National Museum of American Art)	Gertrude Goodrich	activities of four parts of the country (around four walls of the cafeteria)	1943	mural
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Philip Guston	"Reconstruction and Well-Being of the Family"	1942	stage curtain in auditorium
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Robert Kittredge	"Railroad Employment" and "Railroad Retirement"	1941	sculpture
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Henry Kreis	"The Growth of Social Security" and "The Benefits of Social Security"	1941	sculpture
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Jenne and Ethel Magafan	"Mountains in Snow"	1949	mural
Department of Health and Human Services (formerly Social Security)	Ben Shahn	"The Meaning of Social Security" (west wall -"Work, the Family, and Social Security"; east wall - "Child Labor, Unemployment, and Old Age")	1942	fresco
Department of Interior	James Auchiah	"Dance Festival"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Gifford Beal	"Conservation of the National Parks"	1941	mural
Department of Interior	Louis Bouche	"Conservation - Western Lands"	1938	mural (in storage)
Department of Interior	Edgar Britton	"Production and Refining" and "Distribution and Use"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Nicolai Cikovsky	"Desert," "Irrigation," "Gathering Dates," and "Apples"	1938	mural
Department of Interior	Woodrow Crumbo	"Deer," "Peyote Bird and Symbols," "Stealing Horses," "Flute Player," "Courting," and "Buffalo Hunt"	1940	mural
Department of Interior	John Steuart Curry	"Rush for the Oklahoma Land - 1889" and "The Homesteading"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Maynard Dixon	"Bureau of Indian Affairs"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Ernest Fiene	"Placer Mining," "Fighting Forest Fire," and "Winter Round-Up"	1938	mural
Department of Interior	Boris Gilbertson	"American Moose" and "American Bison"	1940	sculpture
Department of Interior	William Gropper	"Construction of the Dam"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Velino Herrera	Indian themes, nine panels	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Allan C. Houser	"Singing Love Songs" and "Apache Round Dance"	1940	mural
Department of Interior	Allan C. Houser and Gerald Nailor	"Indian Murals"	no date	mural
Department of Interior	David McCosh	"National Parks" two panels	1940	mural
Department of Interior	Stevan Mopope	"Indian Theme"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Gerald Nailor	"Hunting Ground" and "Initiation Ceremony"	1940	mural
Department of Interior	James Michael Newell	"Alaska" and "Insular Possessions"	1939	mural
Department of Interior	Henry Varnum Poor	"Conservation of Wild Life"	1939	fresco
Department of Interior	Millard Sheets	"The Negro's Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America" - four panels	1943	mural
Department of Interior	Louis Slobodkin	"Abe Lincoln"	1940	sculpture
Department of Interior	Ralph Stackpole	"Powell Exploring the Grand Canyon"	1940	sculpture
Department of Interior	Heinz Warnecke	"Lewis and Clark"	1939	sculpture
Department of Justice	John Ballator	"Contemporary Justice and Man"	1937	tempera
Department of Justice	George Biddle	"Society Freed through Justice"	1936	fresco
Department of Justice	Emil Bisttram	"Contemporary Justice and Woman"	1939	oil on canvas
Department of Justice	Louis Bouche	"Activities of the Department of Justice"	1937	oil on canvas
Department of Justice	John Steuart Curry	"Movement of the Population Westward" and "Law Versus Mob Rule"	1937	oil on canvas
Department of Justice	Leon Kroll	"The Triumph of Justice" and "The Defeat of Justice"	1937	oil on canvas
Department of Justice	Henry Varnum Poor	"Justice Department Bureaus and Divisions"	1936	fresco
Department of Justice	Boardman Robinson	"Great Events and Figures of Law"	1938	tempera
Department of Justice	Symeon Shimin	"Contemporary Justice - the Child"	1940	tempera
Department of Justice	Maurice Sterne	"Man's Struggle for Justice" - twenty panels	1941	oil on board
Customs and Immigration (formerly Department of Labor)	Charles Trumbo Henry	"Construction, Power and Transportation"	1938	oil on canvas
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Chaim Gross	"Construction"	1938	limestone relief
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Michael Lantz	"Man Controlling Trade" - two colossal groups	1942	limestone
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Robert Laurent	"Shipping"	1938	limestone relief
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	William McVey	illustrations of the progress of maritime facilities	1937	aluminum grilles
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Concetta Scaravaglione	"Agriculture"	1938	limestone relief
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Carl L. Schmitz	"Foreign Trade"	1938	limestone relief
Federal Trade Commission (formerly Apex)	Sidney Waugh	"American Eagles"	1938	limestone relief
Government Printing Office (Annex)	Elliott Means	"Men Stacking Paper Stock" and "Printing Press Activities"	1937	sculpture
Government Printing Office (Annex)	Armin A. Scheler	Government Printing Office Seal, laurel, and eagle, over main entrance	1937	concrete reliefs
Home Owners Loan Corporation	Albert Stewart	"The Building Trades" (seven reliefs) and "Activities of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board"	1936	sculpture
National Zoological Park	Elizabeth Fulda	decorative plates for bird cages	1937	relief
National Zoological Park	Charles R. Knight	"Pre-Historic Animals"	1937	sculpture
National Zoological Park	Domenico Mortellito	"Noah's Ark"	1940	mural
National Zoological Park	Domenico Mortellito	habitat backgrounds in cages in Bird and Pachyderm Houses	1937	mural
National Zoological Park	Erwin Springweiler	anteater	1937	sculpture
National Zoological Park	Heinz Warneke	"Tumbling Bears"	1938	sculpture
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Alexander Brook	"Writing the Family Letter" and "Reading the Family Letter"	1939	oil on canvas
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	A. Stirling Calder	"Post Rider Continental - 1775-1789"	1936	aluminum
Federal Building (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Gaetano Cecere	"Rural Free Delivery"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Alfred D. Crimi	"Post Office Work Room" and "Transportation of the Mail"	1937	fresco
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Gleb Derujinsky	"Portraits of Eight Former Postmaster Generals"	1937	carved wood medallions
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Karl Free	"Arrival of Mail in New Amsterdam"	1938	oil on canvas
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Chaim Gross	"Alaska Snowshoe Carrier"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	George Harding	"Franklin Signing Post Receipt Book" and "Dispatch Riders in Revolutionary War"	1938	tempera
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Rockwell Kent	"Delivery of Mail in the Arctic Zone" and "Delivery of Mail in the Tropics"	1937	mural
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Vahe Kirishjian	"The Four Seasons"	1940	oil on canvas
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Vahe Kirishjian	"The Signs of the Zodiac"	1940	oil on plaster
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Tom Lea	"The Nesters"	1937	mural (destroyed)
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Arthur Lee	"Pony Express - 1850-1858"	1937	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Doris Lee	"Country Post" and "General Store and Post Office"	1938	mural
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Ward Lockwood	"Opening of the West" and "Settling of the West"	1937	fresco
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Oronzio Maldarelli	"Air Mail"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)* (On loan to Postal Service Training Academy, Potomac, MD)	Paul Manship	"Statue of Samuel Osgood, First Postmaster General"	1937	marble
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Berta Margoulies	"Postman, 1691-1775"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Reginald Marsh	"Assorting the Mail" and "Transportation of the Mail from Ocean Liner to Tug Boat"	1936	fresco
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Frank Mechau	"Dangers of the Mail" and "Pony Express"	1937	mural
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	William C. Palmer	"Stage Coach Attached by Bandits" and "Covered Wagon Attacked by Indians"	1937	tempera
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Attilio Piccirilli	"Present Day Postman"	1937	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Eugene Savage	"Carrier of News and Knowledge" and "Messenger of Sympathy and Love"	1937	mural
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Concetta Scaravaglione	"Railway Mail - 1862"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Carl L. Schmitz	"City Delivery Carrier"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Louis Slobodkin	"Tropical Postman"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Heinz Warneke	"Express Man"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	Sidney Waugh	"Stage Driver, 1789-1836"	1936	aluminum
Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Post Office Department Building)*	William Zorach	"Benjamin Franklin, the First Colonial Postmaster"	1937	marble
Recorder of Deeds	Herschel Levit	"Crispus Attucks"	1943	mural
Recorder of Deeds	Carlos Lopez	"The Death of Colonel Shaw at Fort Wagner"	1943	mural
Recorder of Deeds	Ethel Magafan	"The Battle of New Orleans"	1943	mural
Recorder of Deeds	Austin Mecklem	"Matthew Henson Planting the American Flag at the North Pole"	1943	murals
Recorder of Deeds	Martyl Schweig	"Cyrus Tiffany in the Battle of Lake Erie"	1943	mural
Recorder of Deeds	William Edouard Scott	"Frederick Douglass Appeals to President Lincoln"	1943	mural
Recorder of Deeds	Maxine Seelbinder	"Benjamin Banneker"	1943	mural
National Capitol Region Office Building, General Services Administration (formerly Procurement Division Building)	Harold Weston	various stages in construction of Treasury Buildings and Procurement Division Activities, twenty-two panels	1936- 1938	oil on canvas (funded by TRAP)

State Department Building (formerly War Department)	Henry Kreis	eagle, over entrance	1942	sculpture
State Department Building (formerly War Department)	Henry Kreis	"Soldier Groups"	1942	sculpture
State Department Building (formerly War Department)	Kindred McLeary	"Defense of the Four Freedoms"	1941	lime casein on plaster
State Department Building (formerly War Department)	Jean de Marco	"Peaceful Pursuits of American Life"	1942	plaster (in storage)
State Department Building (formerly War Department)	Earl N. Thorp	"War" and "Peace"	1941	sculpture

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

*Some of the murals in the Environmental Protection Agency Building are in danger. Read details about what you can do to help.

The Mount Pleasant branch of the Washington, D.C. Public Library has a mural painted by Aurelius Battaglia under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) - information courtesy of Mara Cherkasky, Cultural Tourism DC

National Zoo - "At the National Zoo, Washington, DC, there are two lovely aluminum castings, by Domenico Mortellito, identified there as having been sponsored by the WPA, and which are located in the Small Mammal House. They illustrate two scenes from "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Robert Browning. The first of the two illustrates the Pied Piper leading the rats out of the town; the second shows him leading the children out of the town." information contributed by Jack Manischewitz.

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