John Augustus Walker (1901–1967) was an American artist based in the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

who was commissioned to undertake several art projects 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 ...

during the

Depression era The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Early life

Born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, Walker was encouraged to become an artist by his

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher Mayme Simpson. At an early age, Walker became the family breadwinner, working from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily for the Mobile & Ohio Freight Department and limiting his sleep to devote more time to the study of drawing and painting. He began his studies under Edmund C. DeCelle (misspelled in his letter as Cecile) of Mobile.Letter from John A. Walker to Henrietta Mary Thompson, University of Alabama, April 12, 1935 A company-ordered transfer to St. Louis enabled Walker to enroll in the St. Louis School of Fine Arts where he studied under the direction of Victor Holm, Edmund H. Wuerpel, and Fred Green Carpenter. After six years of study, he spent several more years studying art in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Walker was also influenced by the work of

Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...

. According to a biography submitted to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 1935, Walker exhibited his work at the fourteenth annual St. Louis Artists Guild Exhibition in 1926, followed by a "two-man" exhibition in Mobile in 1929 and a "one-man" exhibition at the Woman's Club in Mobile in 1933. Both Mobile exhibitions were sponsored by Allied Arts Guild of Mobile. The Woman's Club exhibition received the following review in the Mobile Press-Register:

The watercolors of John Augustus Walker on exhibition at the Woman's Club House are among the most beautiful ever seen in Mobile. Exquisitely delicate in handling and coloring, they are an outpouring of the sensitivity and poetic spirit in which John Walker reacts to a beauty which is everywhere – a beauty from which so many now choose to turn away, seeking instead a sordid viewpoint. After all, it is with the spirit with which one sees – and in these watercolors John Walker translates transcendent beauty.

Works

Walker worked long hours in his North Royal Street studio in Mobile. His paintings focused on bright colors, an interest he acquired from trips to

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and

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

and reinforced with subsequent trips throughout the United States and Gulf Coast region. Heavy dark outlines and painterly brushwork characterized both his commercial and public works. Walker's subject matter ranged from fantasy and historical themes to landscapes and portraiture. Walker also designed floats, stage sets, and costumes for

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

. Many of his float designs are displayed in museums. His watercolors are held in collections throughout the Alabama Gulf Coast region. His notable works along the Gulf Coast include murals in the old City Hall building in Mobile (now the History Museum of Mobile), the Smith Bakery murals on Dauphin Street in Mobile (now lost), and his mural designs for the Federal Building Courtroom. Walker's paintings also are displayed in public schools throughout the state.John Augustus Walker Murals
". (February 28, 2007) Alabama Department of Archives and History - accessed March 5, 2009 Many of Walker's works earned local, state, and national awards. Walker was a founder and original member of the Mobile Art Guild, which he also served as an instructor."Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture, Alabama Cooperative Extension Service," (Text that accompanied first public exhibition in the 1980s) Walker created the

Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture The Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture was a series of murals commissioned by the Alabama Extension Service (now the Alabama Cooperative Extension System) and partly funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for the Alabama Stat ...

, funded by the

and commissioned by the Alabama Extension Service (now Alabama Cooperative Extension System) for exhibition at the 1939 Alabama State Fair. Walker was originally contracted to paint 29 murals, but time constraints limited him to ten. Assuming the paintings would be temporary, Walker used tempera water-color paints rather than costlier, more durable oils, which were his preferred medium.Dupree, C. Bruce, Art Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, "Lecture on Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture," Auburn University Sesquicentennial, Sept. 21, 2006. Following exhibition at the Alabama State Fair, the paintings were shipped to Shreveport for display at the 1939 Louisiana State Fair. Afterward, they were shipped to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

(at the time Alabama Polytechnic Institute) in Auburn and stored in the Duncan Hall attic for almost half a century before they were rediscovered in the 1980s and refurbished. Although designed to be temporary, these murals have been preserved by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and are recognized as examples of WPA-related art from the Great Depression era.Dupree, Bruce (Summer 2008) "John Augustus Walker and the Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture." ''Alabama Heritage''. No. 89

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, John Augustus 1901 births 1967 deaths People from Mobile, Alabama Auburn University people American muralists Federal Art Project artists