About: History of San Francisco (Refregier murals)

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In 1941, Anton Refregier won the $26,000 commission for the series History of San Francisco, which are a set of 27 murals painted in the lobby of the Rincon Annex Post Office in San Francisco, California. Refregier painted the mural with casein tempera on white gesso over plaster walls, in the social realism style. Work was interrupted by World War II and restarted in 1946; the murals were completed in 1948.

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  • In 1941, Anton Refregier won the $26,000 commission for the series History of San Francisco, which are a set of 27 murals painted in the lobby of the Rincon Annex Post Office in San Francisco, California. Refregier painted the mural with casein tempera on white gesso over plaster walls, in the social realism style. Work was interrupted by World War II and restarted in 1946; the murals were completed in 1948. In 1953, U.S. Representative Hubert B. Scudder opened a Congressional hearing to determine whether the murals should be removed for themes "inconsistent with American ideals and principles"; the often contentious proceedings concluded with their retention. The building is now part of Rincon Center, remodeled as shops and residences after the Post Office left in 1979, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places that year. The Rincon Center lobby is publicly accessible, and regular guided tours of the murals are provided by volunteers. (en)
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  • Rincon Annex is a Streamline Moderne building completed in 1940 as a United States Post Office. The 27 murals by Anton Refregier collectively entitled History of San Francisco line the upper portion of each wall. (en)
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  • — Anton Refregier (en)
  • — Congressman Richard Nixon (en)
  • — Julian Huxley (en)
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  • Lobbies of the Rincon Annex Post Office with Refregier's History of San Francisco mural series lining the frieze. (en)
  • Bottom: View northeast in Mission St lobby (en)
  • Top: View northwest in Spear St lobby (en)
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  • Mural, egg tempera on gesso (en)
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  • 0001-11-16 (xsd:gMonthDay)
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  • 1964 (xsd:integer)
  • 0001-04-18 (xsd:gMonthDay)
  • 0001-05-01 (xsd:gMonthDay)
  • 0001-07-18 (xsd:gMonthDay)
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  • I am much distressed about the Bill introduced by Congressman Scudder to authorize the removal of your murals in the Rincon Annex Post Office. This seems to me a highly injurious proposal. It is injurious because it would mean the destruction of what, to judge from my recollection of your sketches and from reproductions of the finished murals, is a remarkable work of art, and an outstanding example of the growing tendency in your country to try to exert political control over freedom of thought and expression, and to impair the liberty of the creative artist ... The lamentable state of biology and philosophy in the U.S.S.R. shows what happens when creative thought and expression is subjected to control on political or ideological grounds. It is most unfortunate that, just when the free world is protesting against this form of tyranny in the Iron Curtain countries, actions like that of Republican Scudder are trying to introduce a similar tyranny in your great country. (en)
  • I wish to thank you for your letter as to whether anything can be done about the removal of Communist art in [the Rincon Annex Post Office] ... I realize that some objectionable art, of a subversive nature, has been allowed to go into federal buildings in many parts of the country ... At such a time as we may have a change in the Administration and in the majority of Congress, I believe a committee should make a thorough investigation of this type of art in government buildings with the view to obtaining removal of all that is found to be inconsistent with American ideals and principles. (en)
  • You see, along with at about the same time as the WPA was functioning, as a purely relief program, [Franklin] Roosevelt with the encouragement of George Biddle, whose brother was Attorney General, with encouragement of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a wonderful woman, very aware of the issues, a person of great human values; and many other people who are under Roosevelt at that time, including Edward Bruce, suggested that here were all the federal buildings going up new Post Offices, Federal money was being spent. The discovery was made, one day, that there was a procedure of allocating one percent of the total cost of the building for fancy door handles, Renaissance ceilings the kind of ceiling you can see in our 34th Street Post Office in New York City. Why not take that money and give it to artists in national open competitions? This, Joe, was a great idea! It worked like magic. (en)
  • McGregor: You do not consider that [the USSR is] an Allied Power now? Mailliard: When the paintings were done. McGregor: Times have changed and maybe we should change the paintings. Mailliard: Probably we should destroy the works of Michelangelo and those of a few other people. (en)
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  • History of San Francisco (en)
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  • In 1941, Anton Refregier won the $26,000 commission for the series History of San Francisco, which are a set of 27 murals painted in the lobby of the Rincon Annex Post Office in San Francisco, California. Refregier painted the mural with casein tempera on white gesso over plaster walls, in the social realism style. Work was interrupted by World War II and restarted in 1946; the murals were completed in 1948. (en)
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  • History of San Francisco (Refregier murals) (en)
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  • History of San Francisco (en)
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