Clearing the Right of Way (mural study, Garrett, Indiana Post Office)

Joe Cox, Clearing the Right of Way (mural study, Garrett, Indiana Post Office), ca. 1938, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration , 1962.8.66
Joe Cox, Clearing the Right of Way (mural study, Garrett, Indiana Post Office), ca. 1938, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, 33 1⁄4 x 29 3⁄8 in. (84.3 x 74.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration , 1962.8.66

Artwork Details

Title
Clearing the Right of Way (mural study, Garrett, Indiana Post Office)
Artist
Date
ca. 1938
Location
Dimensions
33 1⁄4 x 29 3⁄8 in. (84.3 x 74.6 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration 
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas mounted on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture — vehicle — train
  • Study — mural study
  • New Deal — Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture — Indiana
  • Occupation — industry — lumber
  • Figure group — male
  • Cityscape — Indiana — Garrett
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — post office
Object Number
1962.8.66
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1962.8.66

Artwork Description

During the 1930s, Joe Cox worked for the Works Progress Administration, a government-sponsored program that put artists to work and made them part of America’s workforce. He identified with manual laborers whose survival was at stake, and Cox’s mural study for the Garrett, Indiana, post office reflects his sympathies. He chose to show the loggers hard at work, their muscular bodies bending over their tasks. Garrett had been mapped out in the 1870s by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Chicago division of the B&O main line ran through, carrying people and goods to Baltimore and Washington, fueling Garrett’s economy and providing work for townspeople. During the Depression, however, the railroad’s consolidation led to many layoffs. This mural would have served as a reminder of the town’s heyday, when hard work and risk taking brought prosperity.

Works by this artist (50 items)

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Jack Beal, Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in America, The 19th Century: Industry (U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC), ca. 1975, brush and ink and conte crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.167
Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in…
Artist
Dateca. 1975
brush and ink and conte crayon on paper
Not on view
Jack Beal, Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in America, The 17th Century: Colonization (U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC), ca. 1975, brush and ink and conte crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1977.47.139
Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in…
Artist
Dateca. 1975
brush and ink and conte crayon on paper
Not on view
Jack Beal, The History of Labor in America, The 19th Century: Industry (mural study, U. S. Department of Labor), 1975, pastel and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.38
The History of Labor in America, The 19th Century: Industry…
Artist
Date1975
pastel and pencil on paper
Not on view
Jack Beal, Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in America, The 18th Century: Settlement (U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC), ca. 1975, felt-tipped pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.166
Preliminary sketch for mural The History of Labor in…
Artist
Dateca. 1975
felt-tipped pen and ink on paper
Not on view

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Jack Beal, The History of Labor in America, The 18th Century: Settlement (mural study, U. S. Department of Labor), 1975, pastel and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.37
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Alice Pike Barney, Impression of Natalie, 1902, pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney, 1951.14.39
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Joseph Stella, Portrait of Clara Fasano, 1944, pencil and pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.32.1
Portrait of Clara Fasano
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