great depression mural

You’ll have to look up if you want to see some amazing examples of Great Depression-era art in rural Texas! A massive mural of galloping horses hangs above the postmaster’s door at our post office in La Grange. At nearby Smithville, Texas Rangers make an arrest in another huge painting. Not far away in Giddings, there’s the artwork of three cowboys gathered around a rural mailbox.

What’s the story of these engaging, yet often overlooked vintage western works of art?

Back in the 1930s there was “The New Deal”

The three oil-on-canvas murals are vestiges of a fascinating footnote in U.S. history.

Professional American artists painted them during the Great Depression. The program was under the auspices of a phenomenal economic stimulus measure called the New Deal. U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the public work projects, reforms and regulations to pull the country out of a devastating economic collapse. The New Deal’s relief, reform and recovery programs provided to farmers, the unemployed, youth and the elderly. It also benefited writers, photographers and artists. (Click here for more info: New Deal)

Many artists competed for commissions awarded by the Section of Fine Arts of the Public Buildings Administration. Their mandate was to create art that portrayed everyday people going about their lives, historical events or wildlife. These creations were to be be permanently displayed in federal buildings like our local post offices. 

The Central Texas murals at La Grange, Smithville and Giddings delight award-winning Texas artist Karen Vernon. She calls the paintings treasures, each depicting a different story, an absorbing portal to the past.

“Horses” at La Grange

great depression mural 2
A 4×10-foot mural painted 81 years ago hangs in the post office lobby in La Grange. This silent sentinel is a work of art that is tied to the Great Depression. Unfortunately, the mural is in such disrepair that the cows in the background of the scene are difficult to see.

“The La Grange painting is so filled with life and movement that it takes away my breath,” Karen says. “Turbulence and action fill the space. Does this compelling piece reflect life in La Grange at that time? What was going on? How was the community growing? This painting, unlike the other two quieter pieces, demands attention and action.”

It was painted by Tom E. Lewis, who has two works in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This California native, who studied architecture at the University of Southern California, began painting during the late 1920s.

 “The Law – Texas Rangers” at Smithville

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Carol Snyder, wearing a hat from the era when the Texas Rangers mural was hung in the Smithville Post Office lobby, is joined by David Herrington. Both are members of the Smithville Heritage Society and take pride in the condition of the town’s New Deal era artwork.   

Karen observed that Smithville’s painting has an interesting play of light. It seems to emphasize good and evil, which makes the law enforcement story even stronger. It’s not surprising that Minette Teichmueller, a San Antonio, Texas, artist, chose to paint a law and order image. Miss Teichmueller was a native of La Grange. Her father, Hans Teichmueller, served as Fayette County Judge from 1869 to 1870. He also was elected 22nd Texas Judicial District Judge from 1884 until he died in 1901.

minitte family
Minette Teichmueller is one of the three sisters pictured with their father, mother, and grandmother in the yard of the family’s La Grange home in the late 1800s.

Miss Teichmueller attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago in 1907. She later studied with renowned Texas painter Hugo D. Pohl whom she later married. Mr. Pohl specialized in mural decoration, genre and historical subjects, so no doubt he influenced his wife’s art.

Born in 1872, she probably was one of the older artists in the 1930s New Deal art program. She also was one of the few women who participated.  

 “Cowboys Receiving the Mail” at Giddings

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A third surviving Central Texas Depression-era post office mural is located at Giddings. Both the building where it’s displayed and Smithville’s post office were built in 1937. La Grange’s post office was erected in 1936. The names of the officials listed on the cornerstones of the three government buildings are identical.

From Karen’s perspective, the Giddings painting reflects optimism and changing times. It tells of cowboys on horseback and high hopes for what arrives in the mail. She points to well-executed triangular composition with the close positioning of the figures. That indicates the importance of the mail’s arrival, as well as the cowboys’ close relationship. 

“Are they brothers or friends? Are the new red boots for a Saturday night dance? Were they each hoping for a letter from afar? Their work and life may have been on the ranch, but the painting captured that the mail was something they looked forward to receiving.”

Texas native Otis Dozier painted the 4×12.5-foot Giddings mural.

Actually far more cotton farmers than cowboys lived near the town and the closest mountains were hundreds of miles away. However, when the artwork was installed in 1939, the postmaster and members of the community were well pleased with the beautiful image. After all, the anticipation of receiving personal mail was – and still is – a universal theme.

u.s post office
In 2019, the U.S. Post Office issued a sheet of stamps entitled “Post Office Murals.” Karen Vernon praises these works of art from across the country created during the Great Depression, as well.

“Each of the murals is stylized with flat planes of color with an emphasis on the use of color and pattern reflective of the art nouveau movement that held a strong interest in stenciled patterns,” says Karen, who in addition to her creating her own art, is executive director of Arts for Rural Texas in Fayetteville, Texas. The non-profit’s mission is to enrich lives through the arts and art education. For more information, click on the following link: Arts for Rural Texas.

“The colors carry over in the typical muted, delicate colors of the nouveau period, a result of the use of vegetable dyes. Common colors were pastels, white, off-white, olive, mustard, sage, brown, lilac, gold and peacock blue, all seen in these wonderful paintings. Beautiful!” she says.

I agree with Karen. These works of art painted as part of a New Deal program reflect a time in our history.

For more information

Philip Parisi’s excellent book, “The Texas Post Office Murals: Art for the People,” provides an in-depth look at these works of art. In his preface, he explains that artists produced 106 pieces for 69 Texas post offices and federal buildings.  Find it on Amazon.

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Readers, what’s your reaction to these historic vintage murals? Have you seen any New Deal works of art created during the Great Depression? If so, please tell us about them!

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Elaine Thomas
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