Men and Wheat (mural study, Seneca, Kansas Post Office)

Joe Jones, Men and Wheat (mural study, Seneca, Kansas Post Office), 1939, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.5
Joe Jones, Men and Wheat (mural study, Seneca, Kansas Post Office), 1939, oil on canvas, 15 1⁄2 x 35 1⁄4 in. (39.3 x 89.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.5

Artwork Details

Title
Men and Wheat (mural study, Seneca, Kansas Post Office)
Artist
Date
1939
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
15 1⁄2 x 35 1⁄4 in. (39.3 x 89.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • New Deal — Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture — Kansas
  • Architecture — machine — farm machine
  • Study — mural study
  • Occupation — farm — harvesting
  • Landscape — farm
Object Number
1965.18.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1965.18.5

Artwork Description

In 1939, when many New Deal programs were at risk of cancellation for political as well as economic reasons, Edward Bruce and Edward Rowan hoped to save the Section by enlisting popular support. They selected a post office in each state to receive a mural, and launched a nationwide competition. Hundreds of artists submitted designs in the Forty-Eight States competition, and winning sketches, among them Jones's Men and Wheat, William Bunn's Mississippi Packets, Jenne Magafan's Western Town, Edward (Buk) Ulreich's Advance Guard of the West, and Alton Tobey's The Last Halt were illustrated in Life magazine. Although an important group of murals resulted, the Forty-Eight States competition did not stimulate widespread public demand for a permanent fine arts program.

Special Delivery: Murals for the New Deal Era, 1988

Works by this artist (6 items)

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Kenneth Noland, Untitled, 1958, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chiyo Thomas Telford in loving memory of her father, Elbert D. Thomas, 1992.88
Untitled
Artist
Date1958
acrylic on canvas
On view
Kenneth Noland, Sarah's Reach, 1964, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.9
Sarah’s Reach
Artist
Date1964
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
Kenneth Noland, Shoot, 1964, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.8
Shoot
Artist
Date1964
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
Kenneth Noland, Untitled, 1952, oil on fiberboard mounted on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Benjamin P. Nicolette, 1977.86.1
Untitled
Artist
Date1952
oil on fiberboard mounted on plywood
Not on view

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