The sketchbooks of WILLIAM E. L. BUNN (b. 1910) are prime examples of New Deal art documentation. This sketchbook, dating from May 1937, contain studies for his mural for the Minden, Nebraska, post office, commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture, whose subject was Fort Kearney, a nearby military post that protected early settlers and gold seekers on the Overland Trail. Using ground plans and pictures, Bunn reconstructed the fort and sought to represent all the modes of transportation that passed by at the peak of westward migration. His sketchbook is evidence of his meticulous research. The myriad details of his design are worked out in small drawings of harnesses, animals and wagons, costumes, and elevations of various buildings, complete with Bunn's citation to his bibliographic sources.
William E. L. Bunn Sketchbook, 1937, 8 x 10 in. Details for the Minden, Nebraska, post office mural, pencil on paper. William E. L. Bunn Papers, Archives of American Art.
Description of William E.L. Bunn's Papers |
|
|---|---|
| CREATOR: | Bunn, William Edward Lewis, 1910- |
| TITLE: | William Edward Lewis Bunn papers, 1935-1986. |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: | 0.7 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 1 reel) reel 3813 |
| BIO/HISTORICAL NOTE: | Mural painter, designer, illustrator, and painter; Fort Madison, Iowa. Born Muscatine, Iowa, Bunn studied under Grant Wood and later specialized in painting murals of Mississippi River steamboats. |
| SUMMARY: | Subject files, correspondence, notes, sketches and sketchbooks concerning post office murals in Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Iowa. |
| REEL 3813: | Two sketchbooks, 1937-1938 and 1938-1940, containing sketches, notes and photographs for post office murals in Minden, Nebraska and Hamburg, Iowa. The murals were commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later Section of Fine Arts). Also included are sketches of Oyster Bay, Long Island and Muscatine, Iowa. |
| UNMICROFILMED: | Biographical sketches; a resume; 4 files containing correspondence, mainly with Edward Rowan, Superintendent of the Section of Painting and Sculpture, contracts, photographs, drawings, and clippings concerning post office murals in Dubuque, Iowa, 1935-1938, Minden, Nebraska, 1937-1939, Hickman, Kentucky, 1939-1940, and Hamburg, Iowa, 1939-1940; and studies by Bunn for the Dubuque, Minden, and Hamburg murals. Also included are papers, 1972-1986, regarding the restoration of the Hamburg mural, including correspondence with Karel Yasko of the General Services Administration, printed material, and photographs. |
| RESTRICTIONS: | Microfilmed portion must be used on microfilm. Use of unfilmed portion requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility. |
| PROVENANCE: | Bunn gave the papers to the General Services Administration, which subsequently transferred them, with Bunn's permission, to the Archives of American Art. |
| ADDITIONAL FORMS: | 35mm microfilm reel 3813 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. |
