Jun 012012
Telegraph Hill
Coit Tower
WPA Murals
The little seated boy looks at a book whose page shows the date of Coit Tower (1933) and the date of the WPA projects at Coit Tower (1934).
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Animal Force by Ray BoyntonThese are the first frescoes that one sees when entering Coit Tower. Boynton chose to portray animal power in Agriculture. As often occurred he included fellow artist Gordon Langdon leaning on a horse.
Ray Boynton was an Iowan, after studying art in Chicago he came to California to become the first California Fresco artist. His first project appeared in a Los Altos home in 1917. While teaching fresco at the California School of Fine Arts he completed the first large scale mural in the auditorium of Mills College in Oakland. He went on to become a teacher at UC Berkeley. He was called the “Dean of Frescoes” at Coit Tower. After Coit Tower he completed 15 lunette murals in the Modesto Post Office.
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These further symbols of machine force include a man at the controls of a hydroelectric plant, a surveyor, steam shovel, and oil derricks. Notice that he had to work around not only a door, but a delightful art deco light fixture
Beautiful works, very nice to see …
These are wonderful!
I was born during these years. I have little recollection of them, but do remember my father and mother losing their life savings when the banks closed.
We need a WPA today, and I really can’t understand why such a thing would be controversial. Unless, of course, you’re rich and don’t give a damn about real people.
Hope you’re doing well!
This post will send me running to mills College to see his mural.
Thanks for another colorful and information-rich post.
Wonderful! I can’t tell if the Art Deco lamp on the bottom shot is real or not… 🙂
Fantastic murals — so full of life and color.