Lot 315: RUTH MONRO AUGUR (1886-1967)

RUTH MONRO AUGUR (1886-1967)
Untitled Mural Study, for San Antonio Post Office, 1930s
Oil on canvas
42in. x 41in.
Signed lower right

Ruth Monro Augur was born in Austin, Texas. She studied art in New York under Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase. She also studied at the Otis Art Institute and the California School of Fine Arts. By 1917, she returned to Texas in El Paso. During the 1920s, Augur worked for the El Paso Herald and the El Paso Times as society editor. She painted nights, weekends, and summers.

In the early 1930s, Augur was awarded a large six-panel mural commission by the Works Progress Administration for a courthouse mural in Enid, Oklahoma. The cattle in the mural bear registered Texas brands selected by the University of Texas, Austin.

Augur also completed four other WPA murals. This painting was part of a suite of works submitted for the San Antonio Post Office mural commission. The mural was to be two panels measuring 6 feet x 73 feet, and two panels to be 6 feet x 20 feet (Howard Cook of New Mexico was awarded the project).

This painting is a detailed (probably full size) study of one section of the mural. The small-scale preliminary studies for the mural were recently sold at auction and are reproduced below. This large scale study can be found on the second panel to the far right. A detail from the study is also reproduced below. The caption for the scene is "Longhorns on the Old Cattle Trails 1866-1889."

Reference:
The Texas Post Office Murals - Art For The People, by Philip Parisi, Texas A&M University Press, pages 95-97; 133-141

Excellent condition with minor scattered inpainting in background areas. Canvas is loosly stretched over a sheet of plywood. New frame in excellent condition.