Portion of Mural in Beaver Falls Post Office
Click Here to Return To Milestones Vol 12 No 2
As part of the furnishings for the new post office in Beaver Falls, a canvas wall mural by artist Eugene Higgins (1874-1958) was installed prior to the dedication ceremony which took place on November 12, 1938. Extending the width of the far wall, the agriculturally oriented piece hung above the entrance to the Postmaster's office. Still in its original site today, the mural is located near the service counter.
At first glance, this work for many represents nothing more than an interesting object to observe while waiting in line to purchase stamps. However, the lobby mural and others of its kind represent a period in our history of political, social and economic change which helped to influence a new assured attitude toward American art. This attitude found its beginnings primarily through President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" arts programs of the 1930's-1940's.
Two of the divisions under Roosevelt's administration, the Work Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Arts Project (FAP) and the Treasury Relief Arts Project (TRAP) which resulted from a grant by the WPA for the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture which in itself was renamed the Section of Fine Arts in Octcber, 1938, were the political answers to adversities facing artists during a major economic depression. It was the responsibility of the Section of Fine Arts to adorn public buildings. They focused mainly on murals which could be found decorating the walls of Post Offices, courthouses, and other federal establishments across the United States. While there were WPA projects for writers, actors, musicians and dancers, it was primarily artists who were eligible under the two above mentioned projects. From 1935 to 1943, TRAP, headed by Edward Bruce, and FAP, under the leadership of Holger Cahill, contended for the steady employment of these artists with commissions for public buildings and other professional appointments such as the Index of American Design. Socially, the projects hoped, according to R.D. McKenzie in his The New Deal for Artists, to "advance American art and improve national taste by putting before the public ... what was judged to be America's best - art acquired solely on the basis of its quality".
This quality, or lack of it, was called into question by opponents of the "New Deal" projects. They saw these programs "as the most obvious and flagrant waste of tax money, leading only to the creation of worthless art and the spread of subversive propaganda", noted Milton Brown in an April 1982 Art News article.
Aside from their detractors, the art commissions were entangled in the usual governmental red tape, bureaucratic demands and harrassment. For example, some muralists received only $20.00 per square foot of painted canvas and under the Treasury project, designs must pass a jury selection before the artists were paid for their work. Also, although 10,000 or so artists were "employed" on FAP projects, they had to submit to the humiliation of the relief agency's policy of taking the paupers' oath. Despite the setbacks, artists found a developing positive sense of their worth in American society which helped them to begin to move "aesthetically toward a recognition of social responsibility".'
The idea of social responsibility was not a new theme in the work of Eugene Higgins. Born in Kansas City, he began his art training there and eventually studied at the E'cole Julien and Beaux Arts in Paris where he was influenced by the works of Honore' Daumier (1808-1879) and Jean-Francois Millet (18141875). After returning to America, Higgins pioneering artistic efforts can be associated with those by members of "THE EIGHT" which included the likes of Robert Henri (1865-1929) and Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924) who's "Ashcan School" of painting attempted to combine reality with a social conscious.
In accordance with Higgin's earlier paintings i.e. "Driven Out" which depicts an outcast farming family, the mural here echoes his realistic portrayal of "toilers of the soil in their true environment of rural solitude". The figures in the foreground are massive, resembling tree trunks and are just as earth bound. Chromatically, the low-key tones used for the greens and browns of the landscape are repeated in the clothing and flesh tones of the figures. The solidity of these figures, the ruggedness of the faces and most importantly their compositional grouping clearly demonstrate a hardworking, care-worn but industrious family.
In keeping with TRAP's predilection of presenting an identifiable sense of American ingenuity and hard work but more in keeping with Higgin's ideal of creating a unaffected but momentous situation, the post office mural is allegorical as well as philosophical. The legend behind the work, sets the composition during the first indication of peace following World War 1. The dove breaking out of the dark war-like clouds symbolizes peace while the headlines of the newspaper in the children's hands announces the victory. The irony here is in the just delivered letter stating the family son has given his life for his country. Not surprisingly, this news is met with the calm resignation of those who subscribe to the "take what comes" philosophy.
It is significant to note that while the mural from its inception was intended for a post office wall, the depiction of the departing postal wagon is far in the background thus diminutive in scale and making it a relatively unimportant aspect of the painting. What was important to Higgins was the chance to portray a mood, a feeling of pathos and human tragedy that was so tangible in the decades before the second World War.
It is unfortunate then that this mural and other such works from the Roosevelt era became just "artistic" embellishments that were destined to be part of every newly erected government building. And it is even more unfortunate that the work of Eugene Higgins received, on that dedication day in 1938, no more prestige than being considered partof the furnishings.
By Cynthia A. Kundar
Ms. Kundar is the Director of the Merrick Art Gallery
and Editor for "Milestones".
Editor's Note: For an illustration of "Driven Out" and other works of Eugene Higgins, refer to Ivan Nardony's American Artists, Roerich Museum press, New York, 1930.