James Scales Watrous (August 3, 1908 – 1999) was an American painter, muralist and educator born in Winfield, Kansas. He studied at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, where he also taught art history.

Works

Lumberjack Fight on the Flambeau River, James Watrous, 1938

Art

Watrous painted ''The Story of Paul Bunyan'', an egg tempera on gesso mural, consisting of nine 6′ tall panels, in 1935 with funds provided by the federal government. The mural is displayed in the Paul Bunyan Room at Memorial Union,

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

''Lumberjack Fight on the Flambeau River'', an egg tempera mural, painted in 1938 inside the post office in Park Falls, Wisconsin, commissioned by the

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

Publications

* ''The Craft of Old-Master Drawings''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1957. * ''A Century Of American Printmaking: 1880-1980''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984. * with Andrew Stevens. ''American Color Woodcuts: Bounty from the Block, 1890s-1990s: A Century of Color Woodcuts''. Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993.

References

External links

Paul Bunyan murals

Vilas Hall mural

Memorial Library mosaic mural

Paul Bunyan, Big Boy of the North Woods, Poses for His Picture
- ''Milwaukee Journal'' article about the Paul Bunyan murals {{DEFAULTSORT:Watrous, James 1908 births 1999 deaths People from Winfield, Kansas University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Modern painters 20th-century American painters American male painters American muralists Artists from Kansas Artists from Wisconsin Public Works of Art Project artists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American male artists