Vintage Print ARRIVAL of MAIL in NEW AMSTERDAM ( New York )

Description: Vintage Print " Arrival of Mail in New Amsterdam " After a painted mural by Karl Free ( 1903 - 1947 ) This is an original photographic print which was enhanced and expanded with paint , and a caption added. An artist added paint throughout the image to enhance its appearance. The former owner indicated that this print & artwork was done in preparation for inclusion in a magazine many years ago. The print, made by a photographic process, is pasted onto board, with an added tissue-guard. Board size is about 11" x 14" Image size is about 5.75" x 9" Undated; circa mid 1900s Very Good Condition. Carefully Packed for Shipment to the Buyer --------------- The original mural was painted for the United States government Public Building administration in 1938 , for the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building ( formerly the Ariel Rios Federal Building ) in Washington , DC. --------------- Artist Karl Free ( 1903 - 1947 ), Painter , New York City, WPA artist. Karl Free studied with Joseph Pennell, Boardman Robinson and Kenneth Hayes Miller. He was born in Davenport, Iowa, and in 1923 won a scholarship to study at the Art Students League of New York. In the early 1930s, he served as a founding curator of graphic arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Although his career was relatively short, Free left behind sketchbooks of his travels throughout Europe, as well as paintings, works on paper, and murals. In 1937, he designed costumes for the Ballet Caravan production of Pocahontas , the designs for which are now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, during the bleakest years of the Great Depression. Karl Free painted three murals for the PBA : 1. " Columbia Under the Palm " , 1939, a mural in the Princeton , New Jeresy post office 2. Karl Free painted two 7' x 13’6" murals for the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building ( formerly the Ariel Rios Federal Building ) in Washington , DC. “ French Hugenots in Florida ” and “ Arrival of Mail in New Amsterdam ” were painted in 1938 under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. --------------- Public Buildings Administration , Section Of Fine Arts During its 10-year existence, the PBA’s main duties were to construct, maintain, operate, and protect federal buildings (except those on military installations). With respect to construction work, PBA would typically provide the planning, architectural, or engineering expertise, and then take bids from private contractors for the brick and mortar work. The PBA also leased space, acquired land for new buildings, and disposed of excess property. Further, from 1939 to 1943, its Section of Fine Arts planned “appropriate mural or sculptural decorations, the commissions for which [were] awarded to artists selected through anonymous competitions." --------------- " Arrival of the Mail in New Amsterdam " depicts an imagined historical scene around 1650 in the thriving, multicultural city of New Amsterdam ( now New York City ), in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. The central figure dressed in black is Peter Stuyvesant , an actural figure from history and the director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, who strolls near the wharves on the East River with his wife, Judith Bayard. There, he meets another historical figure, Captain Jacob Vandergrift , commander of the Dutch West India Company vessel Zwolle, who removes his hat and gestures toward a cart of mail that has just arrived from Holland. Without an organized domestic post, mail arriving on American shores in the 17th century from Europe was distributed in town by neighbors and friends. Further inland, it was delivered by merchants and American Indians. Karl Free described the portion of the scene at the left as a townsman asking a farmer to deliver a letter for him to an outlying district. The man pushing the mail cart, who is depicted in a crouched posture with torn clothing, bare feet, and a downward gaze, is an African American. At this time in New Amsterdam's history, many African Americans lived in the city. Initially brought from Africa as slaves of the Dutch West India Company, most became part of the labor force in New Amsterdam that, although not officially codified as slavery , resembled it. --------------- Peter Stuyvesant ( 1610 – 1672 ) served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City and his name has been given to various landmarks and points of interest throughout the city (e.g. Stuyvesant High School, Stuyvesant Town, Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, etc. ). Stuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan . Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street , the canal that became Broad Street , and Broadway. Stuyvesant, himself a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, opposed religious pluralism and came into conflict with Lutherans, Jews, Roman Catholics and Quakers as they attempted to build places of worship in the city and practice their faiths. Stuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam , and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with three places in Manhattan's East Side , near present-day Gramercy Park : the Stuyvesant Town housing complex; Stuyvesant Square , a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. His farm, called the "Bouwerij" – the seventeenth-century Dutch word for " farm " - was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named "The Bowery ". The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant , Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County , New York , where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. A statue of Stuyvesant by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there. ---------------

Price: 56.05 USD

Location: Coventry, Rhode Island

End Time: 2025-01-26T14:24:41.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD