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RICHARD SARGENT
COAL AT A PROFIT MARCH 1938 | |
GRASS DID NOT GROW | |
THE RADIATOR FACTORY AT BAYONNE | |
WASHINGTON DC DECEMBER 1934 |
FOR SATURDAY EVENING POST |
Richard Sargent (1911- 1978) is especially known today as an artful illustrator of around 30 covers of the Saturday Evening Post. Like many of the FORTUNE illustrators of the 'Thirties he had come to prominence through the WPA.In 1939 he created 'Men at Rest' (oil on canvas) for the Morrilton Post Office, now resited in the Conway County Courthouse. I give details beneath of Sargent on the WPA because the mural is so close to the FORTUNE commission in time. |
Smith and Christ, Arkansas Post
Offices, Arkansas Historic Preservation Society Publication "Sargent
submitted a color sketch of his proposed design on Nov. 13, which Rowan
accepted. He urged the artist to “please make every attempt to retain
in the finished work the subtle charm of color harmony and fine arrangement
and approach that is indicated in this sketch.” The artist submitted
photos of the full-sized cartoon for the mural on Dec. 13, and Rowan
again expressed concern for the sensibilities of Morrilton’s residents,
writing that “you have made the center figure so obviously obese we fear
the people of Arkansas might have the feeling that you are poking fun
at them. I think it would be well for you to restudy this figure with
the idea of reducing it somewhat in mass.” Sargent’s first payment of
$200 was approved on Dec. 27, 1938; the second, for $150, was processed
on Jan. 7, 1939.
Two problems arose after the mural was installed. First, it was discovered that the post office’s lighting fixtures hung to low and obscured the mural. The building custodian received a four-dollar contract to shorten the light rods and improve the setting for the artwork. Sargent was also taken to task for leaving a ragged border on the wall surrounding the mural; the artist hired a local sign painter, a Mr. Dow, to repair and repaint the wall. Sargent received his final payment of $240 in April 1939. |
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