Artist: Ethel Spears (1903-1978?)
Title: The Life of Carl von Linné
Date: 1939
Medium: Mural frieze in oil on canvas
Artist Ethel Spears painted the life of Carl von Linné (also known as Carolus Linnaeus, 1707-1778) for the elementary school that bears his name. Swedish-born Linné was the first to classify organisms from the plant and animal kingdoms. Spears’ mural pays homage to the botanist’s life and work. The largest scene depicts Linné’s childhood on a farm in Sweden. His fascination with local flora is made evident as he gathers flowers–the pastime earned him the nickname "the little botanist." Decorative illustrations of plants and animals classified by Linné appear in spaces between windows and in the corners of the school room in which the mural hangs.
Spears's mural also includes images of Linné’s travels, friendships, and his historic meeting with the Swedish Queen Lovisa Ulrika in 1761. At that time, the queen granted the botanist a Swedish patent of nobility, after which he was known as Carl von Linné. Spears mural about a figure from Swedish history was designed especially for the Chicago school’s Albany Park community, who were primarily of Scandinavian origin at the time of the mural’s 1944 dedication by the Linné Elementary Parent’s Association.
Artist: Datus Myers (1879-1960)
Title: Settlers and Indians
Date: 1910
Medium: oil on canvas
Datus Myers completed this mural for Linné Elementary in 1910. WPA artists restored the canvas in 1937. This large horizontal mural in the school’s main hallway depicts the amicable meeting of settlers and Native Americans. In the center, a tribal chief, dressed in an elaborate headdress and colorful clothing, greets an elder settler. Native-American and pioneer communities flank this scene. On the left, members of the tribe carry out daily activities such as basket weaving next to teepees in a wooded area. On the right, the settlers’ world is shown: domesticated animals, covered wagons, and pioneer families rest in a cleared landscape.
Myers suggests the peaceful coexistence of these two communities by including a pioneer mother and child in the Native-American environment and a young Indian woman with child in the settler’s camp. The marked absence of weapons in the scene downplays more violent aspects of Westward expansion. Myers is best known for his paintings of the American West and his idealistic images of Native-American life. During the Great Depression, the artist was instrumental in organizing Native-American artists under the WPA. The American West was a popular theme in Progressive Era murals in Chicago’s schools (see Daniel S. Wentworth Elementary School, Albert Lane Technical High School, and George W. Tilton Elementary School).
Related work in the Art Institute:
Martin Johnson Heade, Magnolias
Like Carl von Linné, Martin Johnson Heade took an interest in botany. He traveled as far as Brazil to study and paint flowers like these magnolias.
|
