Mountain Lions

Ila McAfee Turner, Mountain Lions, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.80
Copied Ila McAfee Turner, Mountain Lions, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, 36 1⁄8 x 42 in. (91.9 x 106.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.80

Artwork Details

Title
Mountain Lions
Artist
Date
1933-1934
Location
Dimensions
36 1⁄8 x 42 in. (91.9 x 106.8 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — New Mexico
  • Animal — cougar
  • Landscape — rocks
  • Landscape — mountain
Object Number
1964.1.80
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1964.1.80

Artwork Description

Two mountain lions gaze serenely over their home range from atop a ridge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Artist Ila McAfee Turner brought out the gentle beauty and fleeting companionship of these big predators during the days a newly mated pair spends together. During the rest of the year the mature cats live in separate territories.

Turner lived in Taos, New Mexico, but was well acquainted with this dramatic, steep-sided Colorado canyon and its animal inhabitants. She had grown up riding horseback around her family's ranch outside the mining town of Gunnison, Colorado. In a song titled "Did You Ever Hear of Gunnison?" the artist described her childhood home as she showed these mountain lions, "way up there, in thin clean air, far away from anywhere, up on the beautiful wester slope, high in the rugged Rocky Mountains."

1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition label

Related Books

1934_500.jpg
1934: A New Deal for Artists
During the Great Depression, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) enlisted artists to capture “the American Scene” in works of art that would embellish public buildings across the country. Although it lasted less than one year, from December 1933 to June 1934, the PWAP provided employment for thousands of artists, giving them an important role in the country’s recovery. Their legacy, captured in more than fifteen thousand artworks, helped “the American Scene” become America seen.