Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, also known as Dorothy Puccinelli Cravath (December 19, 1901 – May 24, 1974), was a New Deal-era artist and muralist. She was based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Biography

Born as Dorothy Wagner on December 19, 1901, in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, at age five her family moved and settling in

Half Moon Bay, California Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 as of the 2020 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the un ...

. In 1919, she enrolled at the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

(now known as San Francisco Art Institute) and then continued in 1925 at the

Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design or Rudolph Schaeffer School of Rhythmo-Chromatic Design (1924 – 1984) was an art school located in San Francisco, California, best known for its courses in color and interior design. The school was founded by ar ...

in San Francisco to studied with

Beniamino Bufano Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes ...

. Her first marriage was to artist

Raymond Puccinelli Raymond Puccinelli, also known as Raimondo Puccinelli (1904–1986), he was an American sculptor and educator. He was active in his work in San Francisco, Baltimore, and Florence, Italy. Early life Raymond Puccinelli was born on May 5, 1904, i ...

which ended in divorce. In 1941, Dorothy married Austin Cravath (brother of artist

Ruth Cravath Ruth Wakefield Cravath (1902–1986) was an American stonework artist and arts educator, specifically known for her public sculptures, busts and bas-reliefs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Biography Ruth Barrows Cravath was born in Chicago, Ill ...

) and together they had a daughter named Anne. In 1937, Puccinelli created a 6′ x 8′ tempera-on-canvas mural called ''Vacheros'' at the post office in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

. The mural was funded by the

Treasury Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

. In 1939, Puccinelli worked with artist,

Helen Katharine Forbes Helen Katharine Forbes (February 3, 1891 – May 27, 1945) was a Californian artist and arts educator specializing in etching, murals and painting. She is best known for western landscapes, portrait paintings, and her murals with the Treasury Sect ...

to paint the interior four panel murals of the ''Mother's Building'' at the

San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The SF Zoo is a public institution, managed by the non-profit San Francisco Zoologi ...

. The four murals depict a

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...

-theme with animals and were funded by Federal Art Project (FAP) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). From 1978 until 2002, the ''Mother's Building'' served as a gift shop for the zoo, the mural is now in need of restoration and the room is only used for special events. In 1960 and 1975, Puccinelli and

Emmy Lou Packard Emmy Lou Packard also known as Betty Lou Packard (1914–1998) was a Californian post-war artist known for painting, printmaking and murals. Early life Emmy Lou Packard was born on April 15, 1914, near El Centro, California, to parents Emma an ...

restored murals, including Coit Tower.

References

External links

* The Bancroft Library and Regional Oral History Office
San Francisco Artists Series Transcript with Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli Cravath and Ruth Cravath
from 1977 and 1974 People of the New Deal arts projects 1901 births 1974 deaths People from San Antonio People from Half Moon Bay, California San Francisco Art Institute alumni Painters from Texas Painters from California American women painters American muralists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Women muralists {{US-painter-1900s-stub