Victor Arnautoff: The controversial artist and his surprising connection to the Bruton sisters
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| San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Jan. 1936, p. 19. |
You’ve probably been hearing a lot in the news about the murals at George Washington High School in San Francisco that are scheduled for destruction, but you may not be aware that the Bruton sisters, in particular Esther Bruton, have an interesting connection to this story.
The murals, which illustrate scenes in the life of George Washington, were painted in 1936 by Russian-American artist Victor Arnautoff as part of a WPA project. His paintings depict images of slavery and the mistreatment of indigenous people, including a scene of early settlers stepping over the body of a dead Native American. The murals have been upsetting to students and community members, and recently the school board voted unanimously to have them either covered or painted over.
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| Victor Arnautoff painting a George Washington High School mural San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library |
The pending destruction of the murals has caused an uproar and has been widely discussed by the national news media. Arnautoff, like his friend and mentor Diego Rivera, was a member of the communist party (although leftist leanings were common among artists of the 1930s), and his political opinions are plainly on view in the murals at George Washington High School. As many journalists and art historians have pointed out, the murals actually condemn the atrocities they portray; Arnautoff subverts traditional heroic themes and views American history through a darker lens. Unfortunately, many twenty-first century viewers are unable or unwilling to interpret the murals as Arnautoff intended.
Arnautoff, who was a popular Bay Area artist, was friends with the Bruton sisters. They ran in the same circles, worked concurrently on different projects for the WPA during the 1930s, and exhibited together regularly in museums and art galleries. Although unconventional and modern in their views, the Bruton sisters rarely made overt political or social statements in their artwork. When asked if her drawings depicting scenes of the Depression had a social message, Esther replied, “No... I’ve always really been more interested in people. I’ve never been a very abstract thinker as you can see and it was just people that interested me.”[1] Yet the Brutons were unafraid of opinions different from their own. Their curiosity and openness allowed them to interact comfortably with a wide variety of individuals with diverse viewpoints.
In 1936, at the same time he was painting his controversial murals at George Washington High School, Victor Arnautoff and Esther Bruton were selected as King and Queen of the Parilia Ball, a fundraiser for the San Francisco Art Association. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, Arnautoff and Bruton were both “prominent and popular younger artists of San Francisco.”[2]
The Parilia Ball, held regularly during the 1930s, is so interesting that I will be devoting another blog post to it, but for now it’s enough to point out that Victor Arnautoff and Esther Bruton spent hours together, preparing for their important roles in one of the most anticipated social events of the season. As King and Queen of the Cambodian-themed extravaganza, they were required to wear elaborate (one might say ridiculous) costumes, and there are many photos of the two together, mugging for the camera and clearly having a hilarious time. Arnautoff was a well-liked and respected artist with a wide circle of loyal friends.
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Esther Bruton and Victor Arnautoff as King and Queen of the Parilia Ball, January 1936
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library |
It is my hope that cooler heads will prevail, and Arnautoff’s important work at George Washington High School will be preserved. We have lost so many murals from this era already--they have been unceremoniously torn down, painted over, or left in a state of neglect. Admittedly, the style and subject matter of WPA murals can seem naïve, technically unsophisticated, and out of touch with our twenty-first century sensibilities, but these public works of art illuminate a vital period in our history. American artists, who were struggling just as much as bridge builders and construction workers during the Depression, were given the opportunity to support themselves and their families through art. WPA murals represent a time when the government valued art enough to pay for its display in public spaces, and respected artists enough to provide work for them when there was none. At a point in history when our country was in financial and spiritual crisis, the optimistic images in WPA art inspired the average American and provided hope that better days were ahead.
Let’s do our best to remember the past and save the art.
NEXT WEEK: Esther Bruton, Victor Arnautoff, and the 1936 Parilia Ball.
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