200 cards. Is the USPS solvent yet?
I thought maybe the 200th card should be something special. Instead — it’s kind of creepy.
Alexander Brook created two post office murals for Washington DC. The first one appears to be a somewhat run-of-the-mill family scene. The second one is a puzzle. It seems like a rural scene, but I’d hardly call it bucolic. Where are these young men and what are they doing? Why is one pointing? Is he giving orders or directions? He’s dressed differently. Who is the man reading the letter?
The titles (Writing the Family Letter and Reading the Family Letter) offer a big clue. We now know that the boy in the second painting is reading a letter from his family. Is he the husband/father? A son? Is he at war? There are no indications of that.
The murals are a commentary on the Civilian Conservation Corps, as detailed on the US GSA website.
Brook, whose wife Gina Knee was also an artist, created several covers for the Saturday Evening Post. His work can be seen online at The Met’s website, The Whitney, and the Smithsonian.