Artist Biographies

Kenneth M. Adams  (1897-1966)

Kenneth M. Adams was born in Topeka, Kansas and died in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Kenneth M. Adams studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and moved to Taos, New Mexico
in 1924. He is best known for his paintings of the local Native Americans
and Spanish Americans.

Adams was Artist-in-Residence at the University of New Mexico from 1937 to 1963.
His New Deal postal murals are Rural Free Delivery painted for the Goodland, Kansas
post office (1937) and Mountains and Yucca, for the Deming, New Mexico post office (1937).

Auriel Bessemer  (1909-1986)

Auriel Bessemer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and died in Merced, California.

Bessemer studied at the Art Students League of New York, Columbia University
and National Academy of Design. She was known for her allegorical and figure
paintings and murals.

Her New Deal postal murals are Historical and Industrial Scenes-Sketches of Virginia
painted for the Arlington, Virginia post office (1940). The work comprises seven
panels of murals.

Acee Blue Eagle  (1907-1959)

Acee Blue Eagle was born north of Anadarko, Oklahoma to a Creek/Pawnee mother and a
non-Indian father. He demonstrated an early predilection to art, drawing with sticks in the sand
and using crayons and pencils in school.

He graduated from the University of Oklahoma where he was mentored by Oscar Jacobson.
Blue Eagle lectured at Oxford University and travelled throughout Europe exhibiting his paintings.
His works appeared in museums and gallery shows in New York, Santa Fe, and Los Angeles with
a one-man shows at the Gilcrease and Philbrook Museums.

He was a prolific mural painter and was commissioned by the Department of the Treasury to paint
two postal murals-Indian Family at Routine Tasks (Coalgate, Oklahoma Post Office) and
Seminole Village Indian Scene (Seminole, Oklahoma Post Office).

Blue Eagle served three years in the United States Air Corps during World War II.

He was a fierce advocate of Indian culture throughout his life as well as mentoring young artists.

He is buried at the U.S. National Cemetery at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.

Boris Deutsch  (1892-1978)

Boris Deutsch was born in Lithuania and died in Los Angeles, California.

Deutsch deserted from the Russian Army during World War I and settled in Seattle in 1916 and
eventually moved to Los Angeles.

He was mostly a self-taught artist but studied in various art academies in Berlin and taught at the
Otis Art Institute for several years. He was a commercial artist and worked in the special effects
department for Paramount pictures.

His New Deal postal murals are Indian Bear Dance which was selected for the Truth or Consequences 
(formerly Hot Springs), New Mexico post office in the prestigious 48-State Competition held in 1939
and Grape Pickers for the Reedley, California post office (1941). 

Stevan Dohanos  (1907-1994)

Stevan Dohanos was born in Lorain, Ohio and died in Westport, Connecticut.

Dohanos studied at the Cleveland School of Art and was best known for his Saturday
Evening Post covers which number over 100. He's often compared to Norman Rockwell.

He was the chairman of the National Stamp Advisory Committee which is responsible
for the selection of images on U.S. postage stamps.

His New Deal postal murals are The Virgin Island, U.S.-The Outer World Significance
and The Virgin Island, U.S.-The Leisurely Native Tempo both painted for the
Charlotte Amalie post office (1941). 

Thomas H. Donnelly  (1893-1971)

Thomas H. Donnelly was born in Washington, D.C. and died in Valhalla, New York.

Donnelly studied at the Corcoran School of Art with John Sloan and Boardman Robinson.

His numerous exhibits include the Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery and Denver Art Museum.

His New Deal postal murals are Indian Cornfield for the Mt. Kisco post office (1936);
Washington Bridge for the Ridgefield Park, New Jersey post office (1937); Fall in Genesse Country
for the Attica, New York post office (1938); and Apple Pickers for the Clyde, New York post office (1941).

Jessie Hull Mayer  (1910-2009)

Jessie Hull Mayer was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mayer graduated from the Yale School of Fine Arts and studied under Eugene Savage.
She was well know for her murals and as a fine-painter.

Her New Deal postal murals are Arrival of the Mail in Culver painted for the Culver,
Indiana post office (1938); Indiana Farming Scene painted for the Jasper, Indiana post office
(1939); and Winter Landscape painted for the Canton, Missouri post office (1940).

Stephen Mopope  (1898-1974)

Stephen Mopope was born on the Kiowa Reservation near present day Anadarko, Oklahoma
and died in Fort Cobb Oklahoma.

Mopope first learned to paint from his great uncle, Silver Horn, who was the greatest
Native American ledger painter. His education continued at the St. Patrick's Mission School
under the guidance of Sister Olivia Taylor and Susan Peters who placed Mopope at the
University of Oklahoma under the supervision of Oscar Jacobson. At the university, he became
a member of the Kiowa five and by 1928 was internationally acclaimed with shows in
Czechoslovakia and published works in France.

He was the most prolific Native American artist of the 20th century and his works hang in
dozens of museums in the United States. His 16 monumental postal murals known
collectively as Scenes of Indian Life, can be viewed at the Post Office in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

Archie L. Musick  (1902-1978)

Archie L. Musick was born in Kirksville, Missouri and died in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Musick studied under Thomas Hart Benton and Boardman Robinson and was a graduate
of Truman State University. He spent most of his career in Colorado but did teach at the
University of Missouri. He is the author of Musick Medley: Intimate Memories of a Rocky
Mountain Art Colony.

His New Deal postal murals are Loading Cattle, Stockade Builders and Moving Westward
painted for the Red Cloud, Nebraska post office (1941) and Hunters, Red and White
painted for the Manitou Springs, Colorado post office (1942).  

Albert Turner Reid  (1873-1955)

Albert Turner Reid was born in Concordia, Kansas and died in New York City.

Reid studied at the University of Kansas, Art Students League and New York School for Art.

He was a political cartoonist whose work appeared regularly in the Kansas City Journal,
Kansas City Star, Chicago Record, New York Herald and the Saturday Evening Post. He was
a great advocate for the American farmer and a teacher.

His new Deal postal murals are The Hare and the Tortoise painted for the Sabetha, Kansas
post office (1937); The Mail Must Go Through painted for the Olathe, Indiana post office
(1940); and Romance of the Mail painted for the Sulpher, Oklahoma post office (1939).

Daniel Rhodes  (1911-1989)

Daniel Rhodes was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa and died in Reno, Nevada.

Rhodes received a degree from the University of Chicago and studied at the Art Students League
of New York. He also worked with Iowa painter Grant Wood. He was an accomplished designer 
and potter and received a MFA from Alfred University. He taught at the Art Students' Workshop in
Des Moines, was a guest lectured at Iowa Stte University and taught ceramics at the University of
Southern California.

His new Deal postal murals are Settlers and Storm Lake painted for the Glen Ellyn, Illinois post
office (1937); Communication by Mail painted for the Marion, Iowa post office (now city hall, 1939);
Air Mail painted for the Piggot, Arkansas post office (1941); and The Wheelwright painted for the
Saint Louis, Clayton Branch post office (1942). 

Olive Rush  (1873-1966)

Olive Rush was born in Fairmont, Indiana and died in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Olive Rush settled in Santa Fe in 1920 where the focus of her work was the New Mexico
landscapes and the Native American people. Her first exhibit in Santa Fe was in 1914 at the
Palace of the Governors and a retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe in 1957.

Her New Deal postal murals are Osage Treaties in the Pawhuska, Oklahoma post office
(1938) and Antelope in the Florence, Colorado post office (1939). 

Robert Byron Tabor  (1882-1972)

Robert Byron Tabor was born in Independence, Iowa and died in Oelwein, Iowa.

Tabor spent most of his life in the Independence area and began painting at the age of 52.
One of Tabor's works "was selected as one of the 25 best pictures out of 15,000 works
submitted and chosen by President Roosevelt to hang in the White House."

His New Deal postal mural, Postman in Storm, was painted for the Independence, Iowa
post office (1938). 

Theodore Van Soelen  (1890-1964)

Theodore Van Soelen was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and died in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Van Soelen studied at the St. Paul Institute of Arts and Sciences and moved to
Albuquerque because of his battles with pneumonia and tuberculosis. Once established,
the main interest of his artist work became the Native American culture, landscapes and
ranching of the Southwest.

His New Deal postal murlas are Buffalo Range painted for the Portales, New Mexico
post office (1938); Wild Geese painted for the Waurika, Oklahoma post office (1939); and
Landscape Mural and Buffalo Hunting painted for the Livingston, Texas post office (1941). 

George J. Vander Sluis  (1915-1984)

George J. Vander Sluis was born in Cleveland, Ohio and died in Camillus, New York.

Vander Sluis was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and studied at the Cleveland
Institute of Art and the Colorado Fine Arts Center.

His New Deal postal mural, Colorado Landscape, was painted for the Rifle, Colorado
post office (1942).