Automobile Industry (mural study, Detroit, Michigan Post Office)

William Gropper, Automobile Industry (mural study, Detroit, Michigan Post Office), 1940-1941, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum acquisition, 1971.2
William Gropper, Automobile Industry (mural study, Detroit, Michigan Post Office), 1940-1941, oil on fiberboard, 18 7846 58 in. (48.0118.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum acquisition, 1971.2

Artwork Details

Title
Automobile Industry (mural study, Detroit, Michigan Post Office)
Date
1940-1941
Dimensions
18 7846 58 in. (48.0118.4 cm)
Credit Line
Museum acquisition
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — Michigan — Detroit
  • New Deal — Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture — Michigan
  • Occupation — industry — automotive
  • Study — mural study
  • Figure group — male
  • Architecture Interior — industry — factory
Object Number
1971.2

Artwork Description

These workers look like parts of a well-oiled machine as each man lends his strength to the task of building an automobile, the chief source of wages for the people of Detroit. William Gropper structured the composition so that the angles of the men's muscular bodies echo the steel beams overhead. He didn't paint the figures from life and instead used photographs of Life magazine together with his own imagination. The artist took pride in his commissions for the Works Progress Administration and believed that, like the workers shown in this mural, he was a valuable member of a working class intent on rebuilding the nation after the Depression. He wrote to officials at the Treasury Department thanking them for "a great pleasure and stimulant" and vowing that "we will continue to do our part in building a great American Art and Culture" (Gropper to Edward Rowan, June 5, 1941, SAAM curatorial file). This mural along with its pair was installed in the Northwestern Branch Post Office in Detroit, Michigan, in 1941, where it remained until 1971. At that time the post office was scheduled to be demolished and Wayne State University in Detroit rescued the paintings, bringing a conservator to carefully remove them from the permanent white lead adhesive. They removed plaster from the back and old varnish from the front and placed the murals side by side on view in the university's Student Center lounge, where you can still see them today.

Works by this artist (16 items)

Howard Finster, Bible Flying (#1805), 1980, enamel on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.16
Bible Flying (#1805)
Date1980
enamel on wood
On view
Howard Finster, VISION OF A GREAT GULF ON PLANET HELL, 1980, enamel on plywood with painted frame, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.5
VISION OF A GREAT GULF ON PLANET HELL
Date1980
enamel on plywood with painted frame
On view
Howard Finster, THE MODEL OF SUPER POWER PLAINT (FOLK ART MADE FROM OLD T.V. PARTS), 1979, assembled and painted electronic television parts, painted metal, painted stic, glitter, mirror glass, wood, cardboard, and ceramic, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.245
THE MODEL OF SUPER POWER PLAINT (FOLK ART MADE FROM OLD T.V…
Date1979
assembled and painted electronic television parts, painted metal, painted stic, glitter, mirror glass, wood, cardboard, and ceramic
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

Howard Finster, Bible Flying (#1805), 1980, enamel on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.16
Bible Flying (#1805)
Date1980
enamel on wood
On view
Rex Clawson, Mr. and Mrs. America, 1969, enamel on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.11
Mr. and Mrs. America
Date1969
enamel on wood
On view
Willem de Kooning, Untitled, 1950, enamel on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.2
Untitled
Date1950
enamel on paper mounted on paperboard
Not on view