History of Ships: WPA Mural
In October of 2020, the Chicago Maritime Museum acquired a Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural titled History of Ships. This story map focuses on the mural's provenance, documenting the known and unknown transfers and movements, physical evidence, and timeframe of its history.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936, oil on canvas, (1) 4'8" x 21'3". Image by Ted Lacey
The WPA Federal Art Project commissioned a pair of murals, each originally measuring thirty-one feet in length - History of Ships (1936) and History of Transportation (1937) for the Victor F. Lawson School. The Lawson School, formerly located at 1256 S. Homan Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood, was built in 1896 and demolished in the early 1980s. After the school was demolished, the murals were discovered at a dealers shop and professionally restored. The unsigned murals are attributed to Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971) due to stylistic similarities.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom was born in Gotland, Sweden in 1893 and came to the United States around 1900. After graduating from Lane Technical High School, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Dalstrom enlisted in World War I and was stationed at a training camp in Georgia. He returned to the Art Institute in 1919 to pursue a career in the arts by creating paintings, etchings, and watercolors. Dalstrom exhibited work at the 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exhibition World’s Fair in Chicago and his art is represented in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971) History of Transportation, 1937, oil and tempera on canvas, (1) 3'5" x 11'8". Image by Dylan Hoffmann
The History of Transportation mural illustrates six busy workers along an assembly line in an automobile plant with a ship on the lake visible in the background.
The mural was separated into two segments during restoration measuring (1) 3'5" x 11'8" and (1) 3'5" x 10'4". The larger of the two was acquired by Crowell Moring and is currently displayed in their office on the 36th floor of the NBC Tower at 455 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive. The location of the smaller panel is unknown.
History of Ships, also divided into two separate panels measuring (1) 4’8” x 21’3” and (1) 4’7” x 7’3”, was acquired by the Brinson Partners collection sometime between 1989 and 1994. Brinson Partners, an asset management firm, was founded in 1989. The mural was displayed in their business office located on the 12th floor of the Rookery Building at 209 S. LaSalle Street
A provenance gap exists from the demolition of the Lawson School in the early 1980s until the Brinson Partners acquired the mural sometime between 1989-1994.
In 1994, Brinson Partners was acquired by UBS. In 2010, both sections of History of Ships were installed on the 38th floor of the UBS Tower at 1 North Wacker Drive.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936 on display at UBS Tower - 1 North Wacker Drive. Image by UBS Art Collection
In 2012, the section depicting two workmen and a shipbuilder looking at his blueprint in front of a 1930s steamship (1) 4’7” x 7’3” (above right) was sold by a former curator at UBS to an unknown client.
On August 8th 2019, the 21’3” History of Ships mural was inspected, unstretched, packed and picked up from the UBS office by Terry Dowd Inc., a local fine art service provider. Terry Dowd completed a condition report after relocating the mural to their storage facility at 2233 S. Throop Street. The detailed condition report shows evidence of scratching and cracking that occurred during its removal from the Lawson School.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936, (1) 4’8” x 21’3” condition report. Image by Terry Dowd Inc.
Photographs of the verso reveal portions of the original thirty-one foot long mural that were wrapped behind the frame when it was separated. The image on the left side of the verso shows a girl raising her hand in front of a sign that says “Notice! Arrivals and Departures.” The image on the right side of the verso reveals a seagull flying above the landscape.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936, (1) 4’8” x 21’3”, verso. Images by Terry Dowd Inc.
On October 1st, 2020, the UBS Art Collection donated the History of Ships mural to the Chicago Maritime Museum. The mural was delivered to the museum on November 6th, 2020, and installed in the corridor on the river level of the Bridgeport Art Center at 1200 W. 35th Street.
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936, (1) 4’8” x 21’3”, installation at the Chicago Maritime Museum. Image by Dylan Hoffmann
Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom (1893-1971). History of Ships, 1936, (1) 4’8” x 21’3”, installation at the Chicago Maritime Museum. Image by Dylan Hoffmann
References
Becker, Heather. (2002). Art for the People: The Rediscovery and Preservation of Progressive - and WPA - Era Murals in the Chicago Public Schools, 1904 - 1943. Chronicle Books, San Francisco.
Gray, Mary Lackritz. (2001). A Guide to Chicago’s Murals. The University of Chicago Press.
Mavigliano, George J., and Richard A. Lawson. (1990). The Federal Art Project in Illinois, 1935-1943. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.
Foy, F., Dalstrom, G., & Archives of American Art. (n.d.). Frances Foy and Gustaf Dalstrom papers, 1909-1961. Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Gustaf Dalstrom : Artist File. (n.d.). Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. Pamphlets P-05067.