MAKE A MEME View Large Image Mural-Ariel-Rios-Brook-1.jpg en Photograph of mural Writing the family letter by Alexander Brook at the Ariel Rios Federal Building in Washington D C <br>Notes Date 1939; dimensions 11' 2 x 6' 3 Photographed as part of an assignment for the ...
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Keywords: Mural-Ariel-Rios-Brook-1.jpg en Photograph of mural Writing the family letter by Alexander Brook at the Ariel Rios Federal Building in Washington D C <br>Notes Date 1939; dimensions 11' 2 x 6' 3 Photographed as part of an assignment for the General Services Administration Title date and keywords from information provided by the photographer Credit line Photographs in the Carol M Highsmith Archive Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Gift; Carol M Highsmith; 2009; DLC/PP-2009 083 Forms part of Photographs in the Carol M Highsmith Archive Mural information from the http //m gsa gov/m/vpb/01028/art_15 html General Services Administration<br>Quiet and spare like the easel paintings for which Brook was known Writing the Family Letter depicts a woman and three children at home Each figure looks away from the others creating a sense of separation that belies their close quarters The girl at the table writes a letter presumably meant for the young man shown seated in the mural on the right who has left the family to join the Civilian Conservation Corps CCC Men in the CCC were required to be unmarried and between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five so the girl at the table likely writes to her brother CCC members came from families already taking advantage of local relief efforts through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration FERA ; therefore the patriarch of the family was probably also out working to support his wife and children Concern for the family's father and brother compounded by the stresses of economic hardship may explain the somber tone of the scene In one of Brook's drawings for this mural the mother appears calm her back to the viewer and her eyes gazing lovingly at the baby The final composition with the mother appearing worn and distant conveys the sacrifices and hard work that were essential to recovering from the Great Depression On the wall above the girl at her desk is a copy of The Angelus a famous nineteenth-century painting by French artist Jean-François Millet which shows a farm couple pausing from their work for evening prayers <br>Alexander Brook is one of eleven artists whose murals are featured in the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building Brook's murals located in the lobby of the Benjamin Franklin U S Post Office are the only pair that is completely accessible to the public LOC-image highsm 24916 Creator Carol M Highsmith 2011-09 PD-Highsmith Ariel Rios Federal Building mural photographs by Carol M Highsmith
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