Object Details
Artist
Joe Jones, born St. Louis, MO 1909-died Morristown, NJ 1963
Exhibition Label
In 1939, when many New Deal programs were at risk of cancellation for political as well as economic reasons, Edward Bruce and Edward Rowan hoped to save the Section by enlisting popular support. They selected a post office in each state to receive a mural, and launched a nationwide competition. Hundreds of artists submitted designs in the Forty-Eight States competition, and winning sketches, among them Jones's Men and Wheat, William Bunn's Mississippi Packets, Jenne Magafan's Western Town, Edward (Buk) Ulreich's Advance Guard of the West, and Alton Tobey's The Last Halt were illustrated in Life magazine. Although an important group of murals resulted, the Forty-Eight States competition did not stimulate widespread public demand for a permanent fine arts program.
Special Delivery: Murals for the New Deal Era, 1988
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Date
1939
Object number
1965.18.5
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
15 1/2 x 35 1/4 in. (39.3 x 89.5 cm.)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Figure group
Occupation\farm\harvesting
Landscape\farm
Study\mural study
Architecture\machine\farm machine
New Deal\Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture\Kansas
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1965.18.5