Udall Department of the Interior Building: Glickman and Slobodkin Sculptures - Washington DC

State:: WASHINGTON-DC
Site Type:: Art Works, Sculptures
New Deal Agencies:: Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA), Arts Programs, Public Works of Art Project (PWAP)
Started:: 1934
Completed:: 1940
Artists:: Louise Slobodkin, Maurice Glickman
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.

Two statues in exterior Court EE, outside the cafeteria, are by Maurice Glickman, “Negro Mother and Child,” and Louis Slobodkin, “Abe Lincoln”. Both are in bronze with a black serpentine base and stand around 10 feet tall, including the base. Both are done in an Art Deco style.

The statues were commissioned under the Public Works of Art Project and installed by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1940.

The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration. https://www.doi.gov/interiormuseum/tours

For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault 1986 (below – available online). Artworks begin on p. 110.

Source notes

Look, David and Carole Perrault. The Interior Building: Its Architecture and Its Art. Washington DC: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1986. pp. 110-172. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015029850214&view=1up&seq=1

Department of the Interior

Site originally submitted by Richard A Walker on April 8, 2020.