Alfred A. Sessler (1909–1963) was an American artist known for his murals for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(WPA), his printmaking, and his career as a teacher.

Biography

Sessler was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 14, 1909. He attended the

Layton School of Art The Layton Art Gallery is a defunct art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Built at the initiative of British-American businessman Frederick Layton, the gallery was inaugurated in 1888 as the first public art institution in the city. Its one-stor ...

in the early 1930s. He later attended the

Milwaukee State Teachers College Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee was a predecessor institution of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Founded in 1885 as Wisconsin State Normal School, it became Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee in 1927, and Wisconsin State Coll ...

, graduating in 1944. He earned his Master of Arts degree the following year from

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, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Sessler painted two murals for the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

art project, the

Treasury Section of Fine Arts A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be st ...

. He painted the mural entitled ''Gager’s Trading Post on the Wadsworth Trail'' for the United States post office in

Morris, Minnesota Morris is a city and the county seat of Stevens County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,105 at the 2020 census. Morris is surrounded by some of the nation's richest agricultural land, and agribusiness is important to the local ...

. He also painted the mural entitled ''Lumbering in Early Lowell'' for the

Lowell, Michigan Lowell is a city in Kent County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,783 at the 2010 census. Lowell is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is about east of the city of Grand Rapids. The city is mostly surrounded by ...

post office. Sessler also created lithograph prints for the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

. In 1945 Sessler began teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he founded their graphic arts program. Sessler is credited with creating the color reduction woodcut. He taught at University of Wisconsin until his death. Sessler died on September 16, 1963, in Madison, Wisconsin. His work is in the collection of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

, and the

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Art Museum. In 1988 the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, Letters Gallery held a retrospective of his work entitled ''The prints of Alfred Sessler from 1935 to 1963''. In 2015 Sessler was included in the exhibition ''Founders & Visionaries: Wisconsin Jewish Artists from the Milwaukee Art Museum'' at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sessler, Alfred A. 1909 births 1963 deaths Artists from Milwaukee American artists Federal Art Project artists