Loop Station Post Office Mural – Chicago IL

Description

“The Great Indian Council 1833” is a mural painted by Gustaf Dalstrom, who was a Swedish-American artist that attended the Art Institute of Chicago and at one point was the President of the Chicago Society of Arts.

Dalstrom painted many murals for the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture as known as The Treasury Section of Fine Arts. “The Great Indian Council 1833” was originally painted for the Post Office at 840 North Clark Street where it hung from 1938 (year it was finished) until 1983 when the Post Office was converted to a movie theater.

The Mural also originally hung with another mural titled “Advent of the Pioneers, 1851” which was actually painted by Dalstrom’s wife Frances Foy. (“Advent of the Pioneers, 1851” was also commissioned by the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture) When the Post Office was converted in 1983, the murals were separated and have not been reunited.

“The Great Indian Council 1833” was then restored and supposed to be hung at the Main Post Office on 433 West Van Buren Street. Although shortly after that the building was bought by Bill Davies for seventeen million dollars on October 21, 2009. Because The US Postal Service owns the mural, it was placed where it currently hangs at 219 S. Clark Street.