The Treasury
Department’s
Section of Fine Art
On October 13,
1934, by order of the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., the
Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture was officially established.
Later renamed the Section of Fine Arts, its mission was to transform the
federal post office into a democratic art gallery. The Section, as it was
commonly referred to, was the largest and longest lasting of the numerous art
oriented programs established by Roosevelt’s New Deal Policy. During its nine
year life, it employed nearly 850 artists and commissioned 1371 murals, a
majority of which were installed in post offices around the nation. The Section
officially closed its doors on June 30, 1943, as a result of America’s entrance
into World War II.
The Section was
headed by Edward Bruce (1879 – 1943), Edward Rowan (1898 – 1946), and Forbes
Watson (1880 – 1960). These three gentlemen were not part of the established
political bureaucracy, but came from an artistic background. Bruce and Rowan
were painters and Watson was an art critic. Thus they combined their skills to
create an efficient artistic sphere where new ideas could prosper. Bruce, the
individual responsible for first conceiving The Section, handled general policy
and bureaucracy. Rowan dealt directly with the artists and provided artistic
critiques and advice. Watson operated as The Sections publicist and art critic,
promoting the organization in magazine and newspaper articles and encouraging
general awareness of its programs.
Funding for the
murals was established as a %-for-art plan. One percent of the cost of new
federal buildings was set aside for the installation of artistic
“embellishments.” Thus, as new post offices were being built around the nation,
1% of their cost, averaging $600, was set aside for the installation of art
into their community.
Commissions
were awarded on the basis of anonymous competitions, thus eliminating
favoritism and giving young and unknown artists opportunities to receive
significant commissions. Unlike other New Deal Programs, The Section awarded
jobs based on talent, not financial need. Over the course of nine years, 15,426
artists submitted 40,426 sketches in 190 competitions. Most
competitions were regional contests, less than 15 were national competitions.
Once a specific federal building was chosen, the Section would appoint a
regional chairman, generally a museum or art school director, who subsequently
formed a jury and organized the competition. The jury mailed announcements to
artists, advertised in newspapers, and promoted the contest in the Section
Bulletin, which reached over 8,500 artists around the nation.
The anonymity
of the competition was assured because only unsigned designs were submitted to
the juries. Sealed envelopes with the artist’s name and contact information
were taped to the back of each sketch. Once a winner had been determined the
identity of the artist was revealed.
Artists could
also receive commissions based on “runner-up” status within these competitions.
If an artist showed “exceptional promise” they would be given special
consideration if a federal building within the artist’s local were constructed.
Thus, an artist could forgo the competition on the basis of previous designs. A
new sketch would need to be composed that focused on the new mural site. This
sketch would subsequently be submitted to a committee for approval and a
contract drawn up.
Such anonymity
allowed for a wide variety of artists to be commissioned. Although only three
black artists received commissions, of the 850 artists that painted for the
Section, over 1/6, specifically 162 of them were women.[1] Controversy arose concerning the political affiliations of chosen
artists. Due to the competition’s anonymity, artists of every political
organization were commissioned, not just democrat and republican, but also
those associated with communism, socialism, and other radical political
parties. Other aspects of debate concerned the fact that well known artists
quite often refused to enter the competitions, stating that their already
recognized and reputation adequately demonstrated their ability.
The
competitions also served as “quality control.” The Section was quite stringent
concerning the artistic style in which the murals were executed. Although not
officially limiting compositions to one specific genre, the Section
overwhelmingly favored the realism of the American Scene, consistently shying
away from modernist works involving elements of cubism and abstraction. This
stylistic preference applied to murals both painted and sculptured. Park and
Markowtiz contend that, “the Section wanted a contemporary American realism
that was natural, authentic, and normative…On the whole, the Section believed
that the public wanted recognizable and commonplace but dignified images.”[2] The Section desired work that local residents could identify with and
understand in a readily accessible manner.
Artists who received
commissions were contracted to create a mural for a specific federal building.
These murals they created within the studio and later installed in the
building. The Section’s contract involved a number of stages that the artist
was required to complete before the final mural could be installed.
It was
“strongly recommended” that an artist visit the town that would be receiving
the mural. Thus, it was believed that direct communication with the community
and the local population would aid an artist in designing a scene that
accurately represented the locale.
However, long-distance travel within the United States was expensive and
difficult. Artists would often forgo this initial “suggestion” and rely instead
on correspondence with community members and library research to design a
composition that represented a particular community. Thus, quite often a post
office mural depicting the life of a particular community was composed by an
artist who had never actually visited the area.
The first
official requirement was for an artist to submit a black and white sketch and a
color sketch on the scale of one inch to one foot to the Section for initial
design approval. The Section recommended that artists submit four sketched
ideas, thus increasing the likelihood that one would be approved for the
building in question. The color sketch was deemed the most important stage
because it was upon this design that competitions were judged and contracts
signed. The color sketch was generally the only stage in the multi-step process
in which the Section saw the artist’s actual work, the others consisting of
photographs of the compositions. The selected color sketch was often critiqued
by Edward Rowan, the Art Administrator of The Section. He generally urged
artists to make small adjustments to their composition and/or their portrayal
of the local community.
The second
stage was of the submission of a “cartoon” of the proposed mural. This
“cartoon” varied with the medium of the proposed mural. For painted murals, a
to-scale black and white drawing of the composition was created. Artists would
then photograph this cartoon and send the snapshot to the Section. For
sculptured murals, a clay model or maquette was submitted to the Section for
approval. This step was basically the intermediate stage, occupying the
position between the small scale sketch and the actual mural. Artists often
emphasized the linear aspects of the cartoon composition because it was those
features that were transferred from the cartoon to the actual mural. Again,
Edward Rowan would provide artistic advice, critiquing aspects such as
modeling, perspective, and overall composition.
Artist progress
was supervised via mail by the Section. The Section staff of 19 met regularly
and submitted personal critiques of the works in progress. However, it was
Edward Rowan who directly corresponded with the artists.
The third and
final stage was the creation and installation of the mural. The murals were
created in the artist’s studio and then transported to the post office.
Installation of the mural was generally carried out by the artists themselves
or under their specific instructions.
Artists were
paid in installments at the completion of each stage in the mural’s creation.
The first and smallest payment was paid upon the approval of the initial
sketch, the second when the cartoon or clay model/maquette was approved, and
the third and largest payment was disperse once the mural was installed and the
postmaster had written to the Section confirming the installation. Artists were
commissioned for various amounts, in Arkansas, the commissions ranged from $470
to $760. Basically, the Section attempted to pay approximately $20 per square
foot.
It is within
this context that twenty-one murals were commissioned for Arkansas. Twenty were
installed and nineteen still exist. These existing nineteen consist of
seventeen painted murals and two plaster, sculptured compositions.