- City:
- Modesto, CA
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
- Completed:
- 1936
- Artist:
- Ray Boynton
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Partially Extant
Description
The El Viejo Building in Modesto, California, features a splendid series of murals painted by Roy Boynton. This was originally the downtown post office and Federal Building, and the murals were commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) and mounted in 1936. The murals are arrayed high on the walls of the lobby.
Boynton and several assistants painted a series of thirteen tempera murals depicting agricultural scenes in the Central Valley. Ten are lunettes and three are placed on the end wall to make a single, large mural. As one local reporter explained: “These are the scenes of the Central Valley half a century ago. They are the dramatic reminders of a heritage that sustained a nation through the Great Depression… ” (Matthews, 1983).
Six of the lunettes went missing during a building renovation in the 1960s, but two were returned in 2011, when the building was sold off (“Picking fruit” and “Gold panning”). Note that these two are not mentioned in the two information panels on the murals.
The new owners did a fine job of restoring the lobby and its original skylights, and the lobby remains open to the public.
Source notes
https://www.wpamurals.org/modesto.htm
Cheri Matthews. "Post office murals recall bygone days." The Modesto Bee. October 18, 1983: D-1.
https://www.newdealartregistry.org/rendersites/Modesto/CA/.
Bruce & Watson, Art In Federal Buildings, Vol. I, Mural Designs 1934-1936, p. 249.
Site originally submitted by New Deal Art Registry on February 18, 2010.
Additional contributions by Bob Barzan.
At this Location:
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
This is not the post office anymore but we still need to preserve these murals for the future.