8/9/2019 Boris Deutsch WPA Mural In Truth Or Consequences NM Post Office SIERRA COUNTY ARTISTS DIRECTORY Vol. 4 Spri

1/2

SIERRA COUNTY ARTISTS DIRECTORYTruth or ConsequencesVol.4 New MexicoSpring 2006

post office building in Hot Springs, NM(Truth or Consequences) wascompleted, the mural design was aprize winner in a 48 state competition.The winning designs, to be placed inone post office in each of the then 4gstates, were selected f rom 1,475anonymously submitted sketches. Thecompetition was the largest ever heldin the country, and made a distinctcontribution to American murat art.Deutsch's mural was featured alonqwith the other winning entries in t[eDecember 4,1939 issue of LIFEMagazine. The color studies ofDeutsch's mural are in the collections ofthe Smithsonian Institution. Thevreveal that originally the muraldepicted a Native American chiefdancing out ofthe path ofanoncoming Atchison,Topeka & Santa FeRailway Super Chief locomotive. Forsome unknown reason Deutschredesigned the mural to show amountain instead of a locomotive.Another change was, a man riding ahorse became a masked dancer. Thebalance of the final work is essentiallvthe same as the studies.The mural is very expressive andstylized; the figures have a peculiarmoody, surrealistic appearance, withlarge and small figures interspersedwithout regard to spacial positions. Themural was evidently created byDeutsch not so much as an authenticdocumentation of any specific NativeAmerican dance or ceremony, rather asa representation of the color, spirit anddrama of Southwestern Native

Boris Deutsch'sWPA Mural in Truthor ConsequencesrPost Officeby Charles BennettThe Truth or Consequences post officebuilding at 300 Main Street,constructed 1939-1940, is known bothas a good example of an unalteredsmall town single-purpose post officeand for its historic association with thefederal government's New Deal publicarts programs . The mural in the lobbvof the Classical Revival buildinq waspainted by an acclaimed artistlnd is anationally recognized work of art."The Indian Bear Dance," was paintedby professional artist Boris Deutsch( 1895-1978) and installed in June 1940under one of the federal arts programscreated to employ artists during theGreat Depression (j 929-i 943). Overtime art produced under theseprograms has come to be known as"WPA Art," an acronym for one of theNew Deal programs,the WorksProgress Administration.Congress approved funding in I935 forthe WPA, a centerpiece in presidentFranklin Roosevelt's New Deal solutionto the Great Depression, In its g yearrun, the WPA hired more than g.5million unemployed people to dopublicly useful work, from bridge androad construction to concertperformances, painting and writing.Management controversies and hiqhemployment rates during WW llbrought the WPA to an end in 1943.Boris Deutsch's mural, measurinq 5,x12'and executed in oil on canvas, dipicts agroup of Native Americans of nospecific tribe, some masked andcostumed, observing a "Bear Dance."Installed several months after the new1O {+ 5()5-894-()615

8/9/2019 Boris Deutsch WPA Mural In Truth Or Consequences NM Post Office SIERRA COUNTY ARTISTS DIRECTORY Vol. 4 Spri

2/2

SIERRA COUNTY ARTISTS DIRECTORYTruth or Consequences New MexicoVol.4 - lPring 2006

American rituals in general. lt's obviousthat Deutsch respected NativeAmerican cultures: his mural in T or Ccan be viewed as a precedent for alarger mural he painted several yearslater for the interior lobby of the LosAngeles Terminal Annex post Office,with the theme of recognizing culturalcontributions of indigenous peoples ofIne Ameflcas.Deutsch was born in Lithuania,then apart of Russia. After being conscriptedinto the Russian army he deserted andfled the country. He studied art brieflvin Latvia and in various Berlinacademies before immigrating toSeattle in 1916 and becominq a UnitedStates citizen. Three years lat-er hemoved to Los Angeles where hebecame a successful commercial artistand worked for Paramount pictures inthe special effects department. He alsotaught advanced painting. In the earlyyears of the Depression he worked foithe Federal Resettlement proiect,traveling to several states to visuallvdocument workers being resettled onfarms. He painted two oiher WpA postoffice murals: "Grape pickers" inReedley, California, in 194j,and themural for the Los Angeles TerminalAnnex Post Office.

Deutsch painted his self-portrait intothis latter mural in a number of places.

Deutsch was well-known in Californiaand was exhibited and collectedwidely there: a number of prestigiousmuseums have works by Deutsch intheir permanent collections. Othermurals he painted are in the palace ofthe Legion of Honor, San Francisco, theSan Diego Fine Arts Museum, MillsCollege (California), the portlandMuseum of Art (Oregon), the DenverArt Museum and the Carnegie Institute(Pennsylvania).Deutsch also made a low-budqetfifteen-minute personal art fil; in LosAngeles: lul/a by (lgZg). Deutsch usedmoody expressionistic visuals andsymbolic touches in the art film toconvey the heroine's psychologicalstate. He used his own special-effectsphotography and other cinematictechniques for a dramatic plotrecognized as a precursor to the"psychodramas" of Californiaexperimentalfilm of the 1940,s.Unfortunately, the only known print ofthe film is in poor condition and it isnot clear that the print is complete.

The building occupied by the Truth orConsequences downtown post officewas accepted to the National Reqisterof Historic Places in 19g9, partly Jre toDeutsch's mural and its associationwith the federal government,s NewDeal arts program.

ooooooocscac @ zianet-corn J+ tt