James Watrous Explained

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, where he also taught art history.

Works

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, Madison, Wisconsin^[1]

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.^[2]

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.

External links

• Paul Bunyan murals
• Vilas Hall mural
• Memorial Library mosaic mural
• The Library mural
• Ancient Commerce and Contemporary Commerce mural
• Paul Bunyan, Big Boy of the North Woods, Poses for His Picture - Milwaukee Journal article about the Paul Bunyan murals

Notes and References

1. McGlauflin, ed., Who’s Who in American Art 1938-1939 vol.2, Washington D.C.: American Federation of Arts, 1937.
2. Web site: Post Office Mural - Park Falls WI.