Stephen Mopope "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
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.
Several Indian artists were invited to Washington in 1939-41 to study mural art and paint murals for the Interior Building.
Kiowa artist Stephen Mopope painted “Ceremonial Dance (Indian Theme)” in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is a large (6′ x 50′) oil-on-plaster lunette on the east wall of the main cafeteria in the basement.
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. Artworks begin on p. 110.
-
-
Stephen Mopope 1 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
-
-
Stephen Mopope 2 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
-
-
Stephen Mopope 3 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
-
-
Stephen Mopope 4 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
-
-
Stephen Mopope 5 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
-
-
Stephen Mopope 6 "Ceremonial Dance," Dept of Interior - Washington DC
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
McLerran, Jennifer. 2009. A New Deal for Native Art: Indian Arts and Federal Policy, 1933-1943. University of Arizona Press.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Mopope
Project originally submitted by Charles Swaney on March 22, 2015.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.
SUBMIT MORE INFORMATION OR PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THIS SITE