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You are here: Home / Archives for Lester W Bentley

Lester W Bentley

Lester W Bentley

Wisconsin Post Office Mural Artists

October 18, 2017 By David W. Gates Jr.

Artist Frank Buffmire - Black River Falls Post Office Mural
Artist Frank Buffmire – Black River Falls Post Office Mural

A total of twenty-eight artist created murals in thirty-five Wisconsin Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Seven of the artist received multiple commissions as noted below. The artist and their awarded sites as listed below.

We have found having a list such as this is convenient when performing research at the National Archives Records and Administration. Any researcher will reveal, that finding information is part of the fun, somethings what you are looking for is catalogued by the artist name. Other times the research materials you need may be cataloged by the city or town, and so on.

Having a list to refer to is helpful on your journey of discovering these wonderful treasures in our nations post offices.

Wisconsin Post Office Mural Artists

  1. Berlin – Raymond Redell*
  2. Black River Falls – Frank Buffmire
  3. Chilton – Charles W Thwaites*
  4. Columbus – Arnold Blanch
  5. De Pere – Lester W Bentley
  6. Edgerton – Vladimir Rousseff*
  7. Elkhorn – Tom Rost*
  8. Fond du Lac – Boris Gilbertson*
  9. Hartford– Ethel Spears
  10. Hayward – Stella E Harlos
  11. Hudson – Ruth Grotenrath
  12. Janesville – Boris Gilbertson*
  13. Kaukauna – Vladimir Rousseff*
  14. Kewaunee – Paul Faulkner
  15. Ladysmith – Elsa Jemne
  16. Lake Geneva – George A Dietrich
  17. Lancaster – Tom Rost*
  18. Mayville – Peter Roiter*
  19. Milwaukee – Frances Foy
  20. Neillsville – John Van Koert
  21. Oconomowoc – Edward Morton
  22. Park Falls – James Waltrous
  23. Plymouth – Charles W Thwaites*
  24. Prairie Du Chien – Jefferson E Greer
  25. Reedsburg – Richard Jansen
  26. Rice Lake – Forest Flower*
  27. Richland Center – Richard Brooks
  28. Shawano – Eugene Higgins
  29. Sheboygan – Schomer Lichtner
  30. Stoughton – Edmund D Lewandoski
  31. Sturgeon Bay – Santos Zingle
  32. Viroqua – Forrest Flower*
  33. Waupaca – Raymond Redell*
  34. Wausau – Gerritt Sinclair
  35. West Bend – Peter Roiter*

There are a total of  28 artist that were commissioned artwork in Wisconsin in regards to post offices.

A few of the artists received multiple commissions and have art in more than one building. The following artists have two or more murals in Wisconsin.

  • Raymond Redell – Berlin and Wapaca
  • Charles W Thwaities – Chilton and Plymouth
  • Vladimir Rousseff – Edgerton and Kaukauna
  • Tom Rost – Elkhorn and Lancaster
  • Boris Gilbertson – Fond du Lac and Janesville
  • Forrest Flower – Rice Lake and Viroqua
  • Peter Rotier – Mayville and West Bend

New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA

Sources

  • David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
  • National Archives Records and Administration, College Park Maryland
  • Who was who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artist in America, Peter H Falk; Audrey M Lewis, Georgia Kuchen, Veronika Roessler, Madison, CT, Mount View Press. 1999.
  • Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

Filed Under: Artist, Artwork, NARA, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin Tagged With: Arnold Blanch, Artist, Boris Gilbertson, Charles W Thwaites, Edmund D Lewandowski, Edward Morton, Elsa Jemne, Ethel Spears, Eugene Higgins, Forrest Flower, Frances Foy, Frank Buffmire, George A Dietrich, Gerrit Sinclair, James Watrous, Jefferson E Greer, John Van Koert, Lester W Bentley, NARA, New Deal, Paul Faulkner, Peter Rotier, Raymond Redell, Richard Brooks, Richard Jansen, Ruth Grotenrath, Santos Zingale, Schomer Lichtner, Stella E Harlos, Tom Rost, Walter Vladimir Rousseff, Wisconsin

Former De Pere Wisconsin Post Office

October 13, 2012 By David W. Gates Jr.

De Pere (Former) WI Post Office 54115
De Pere (Former) WI Post Office 54115

ADDRESS: 416 George St. De Pere, Wisconsin 54115
ARTIST: Lester W. Bentley
TITLE: The Red Pieta, Nicholas Perrot, Give Us This Day
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (Three individual mural panels)
STATUS:  The murals no longer reside in the original building on George Street. They have been moved to the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Call ahead to verify the hours of the museum before heading out to view this one. The panels were located on the wall of one of the stairwells of the museum.
YEAR: 1942

When I entered the address for the De Pere Post Office into my car’s GPS it took me to the newer post office, about a half mile away from the original building. So I took pictures of the newer building and waited in line to ask the lady behind the counter where the original post office was located.  She immediately knew and gave me the address and brief directions to the building you see above.

I was immediately impressed with the look of it. Most of the buildings from this era are typically just a square box with a flat roof. This particular one has a wonderful stone facade and bell housing on the roof. I’m not actually sure if that is what you call the white box thing, but I’m at a loss what the technical architectural name is. Do I have any architects followers? or construction folks who might know what this is called? For now, I’ll just refer to it as a bell housing with weather vane. It’s a wonderful decorative feature.

My initial research reviled there was a mural at one time located here, but clearly the building has been sold a number of years ago and appears to be privately owned. I proceeded inside to get a better look and to see if the mural still exist here. Sadly, I did not see the mural and only one office was open at the time I visited. The mural was not visible from the one office I saw. The gentleman who greeted me was very cordial and showed me the old post office photographs in his office and lobby.

So I need help on this one folks. Does anyone know what happened to the mural that was once in the lobby of this wonderful post office? At the time I visited I was heading home from a road tip and didn’t have time to stop at the local historical society. If anyone has more information on this one I’d love to hear from you. Any newspaper articles or artifacts from this one would be great to see.

Update – November 11, 2013

After further research and some phone calls I discovered the original murals once located here are now housed in the Neville Public Museum. Observing and photographing these was my object in early October 2013. Since I knew it was there, I set aside a weekend to head up to Green Bay to see this with my own eyes. What I found is shown in the images below.  Three panels is a unique feature of this display.

Thanks for stopping by,

David W. Gates Jr.

The Red Pieta by Lester W. Bentley, photo credit David W. Gates Jr.
Give Us This Day by Lester W. Bentley, photo credit David W. Gates Jr.
Nicholas Perrot by Lester W. Bentley, photo credit David W. Gates Jr.

De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office 54115
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office 54115
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office 54115
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office 54115 Cornerstone
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office 54115 DG
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Artists Signature
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Center
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Center Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Center Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Center Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Full
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Left
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Left Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Left Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Left Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Left Detail
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Plaque
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Plaque
De Pere (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural 54115 Right

“Used with permission of the Neville Public Museum”

Sources

  • Personal visit on 8/21/2012  and 10/13/2013 by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
  • (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
  • Neville Public Museum (https://www.nevillepublicmuseum.org)
  • Ryan Urban Column URC Extra: Kaukauna and De Pere post office murals – Urban Rural Column (wordpress.com)

Filed Under: Artwork, Cornerstone, Former Post Office, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin Tagged With: Artwork, Cornerstone, Former Post Office, Lester W Bentley, Mural, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin

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