The Texas Post Office Murals: Art for the People (Joe and Betty Moore Texas Art Series)

Amazon.com Price: $50.00 (as of 12/04/2019 08:53 PST- Details)

Description

Walk into any of sixty post offices or federal buildings in the state of Texas and you’ll be greeted by a surprising sight: magnificent mural art on the lobby walls.

In the midst of the Great Depression, a program used to be born that would not only give work to artists but also create beauty and optimism for a people worn down by hardship and discouragement. This New Deal program commissioned artists to create post place of work murals—the people’s art—to celebrate the lives, history, hopes, and dreams of bizarre Americans. In Texas by myself, artists painted ninety-seven artistic endeavors for sixty-nine post offices and federal buildings around the state. Painted by one of the most best-known artists of the day, these murals sparkled with scenes of Texas history, folklore, heroes, common people, natural world, and landscapes.

Murals were created from San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas to Big Spring, Baytown, and Hamilton. The artists included Tom Lea, Jerry Bywaters, Peter Hurd, Otis Dozier, Alexandre Hogue, and Xavier Gonzalez. The images showed people at work and featured industries specific to the region, steadily coupled with symbols of progress such as machinery and modern transportation. Murals depicted cowboys and stampedes, folk heroes from Sam Bass to Davy Crockett, revered Indian chief Quanah Parker, and community symbols such as Eastland’s lizard mascot, Ol’ Rip.

In this beautiful volume Philip Parisi has gathered 115 photographs of these stunning and historic artworks—36 in full color. He tells the story of how they came to be, how the communities influenced and accepted them, and what efforts have been made to restore and preserve them.

Enjoy this beautiful book in the comfort of your living room, or take it with you on the road as a guide to the people’s art in the Lone Star State.

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