Edith Ann Hamlin (June 23, 1902 – February 18, 1992) was an American landscape and portrait painter, and muralist. She is known for her

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

murals created while working with the

Public Works of Art Project The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admin ...

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

and the

Section of Painting and Sculpture 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 ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

era in the United States and for her decorative style paintings of the American desert.

Biography

Born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, she was exposed to art by her father, Charles Hamlin, who took her on sketching trips as a small child. Hamlin won a scholarship to 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 ...

(1922–1924) and later attended the Teachers College at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1929 until 1932. She maintained a studio in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

throughout the 1920s. In 1933, Hamlin established a studio in San Francisco, and was briefly married to artist Albert Barrows. By 1936 they divorced. Edith Hamlin Coit Tower Mural

During the early 1930s, she traveled around

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. She was selected to paint murals for the Public Works of Art Project at the

Coit Tower Coit Tower is a tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, offering panoramic views over the city and the bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's beq ...

, and completed a WPA Federal Art Project mural for

Mission High School Mission High School may refer to: * Mission High School (San Francisco, California), a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) San Francisco, California * Mission High School (Mission, Texas), a secondary school loc ...

in San Francisco. On the second floor of Coit Tower, she completed a mural named "Sports and Hunting in California". It currently has limited public access due to its location. She worked with

Maynard Dixon Maynard Dixon (January 24, 1875 – November 11, 1946) was an American artist. He was known for his paintings, and his body of work focused on the American West. Dixon is considered one of the finest artists having dedicated most of their art ...

on the murals, and married him in 1937, after she divorced her first husband in 1936. She also painted for the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC. Hamlin completed another project for the WPA as she painted two large murals for the

Mission High School (San Francisco) Mission High School is a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) San Francisco, California. Serving grades 9-12, Mission is the oldest high school on its original site in San Francisco; it has been on 18th Street, ...

She and Dixon moved to Tucson in 1939 and maintained a summer home in Mt. Carmel,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. In Tucson, she completed numerous public murals including two for the Santa Fe Railroad. After Dixon died in 1946, Hamlin had his ashes buried on a hill near their house where she also constructed a studio for herself. She married the artist Frank Knight Dale who did not live long and she returned to San Francisco in 1953, where she died in 1992.

Legacy

The

Maynard and Edith Hamlin Dixon House and Studio The Maynard and Edith Hamlin Dixon House and Studio is a residence and former painting studio in Mount Carmel, Utah. Maynard Dixon was a prominent artist in the 1920s through 1940s who is best known for his landscape paintings of the American We ...

, operated by the Thunderbird Foundation, offers guided tours by appointment of their home and studio in Mount Carmel, Utah. Their house has been on the Register of Historic Places since 2002.

Notable work

Arizona projects and murals

* ''Grand Canyon Pueblo & Taos Pueblo'', Painted in the Tucson Medical Center Old Administration Building for Santa Fe Railroad Chicago City Ticket Office, Oil and Canvas 1947. Buck Weaver and Milford Zornes assisting. * ''The Legend of Sun and Earth'', Arizona Biltmore Hotel Dining Room; Phoenix, Arizona, Oil and Canvas, 1949. * ''Christ and the Children'', St. Ambrose Catholic Church; Tucson, Arizona, Ethyl Silicate, 1950. (Over Painted) * ''Fray Marcos de Niza on an Exploration Trip to Arizona'', Jacome's Department Store; Tucson, Arizona, Steel-Reinforced Concrete, 1951 with Jack Maul,

Ettore DeGrazia Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia (June 14, 1909 – September 17, 1982) was an American impressionist, painter, sculptor, composer, actor, director, designer, architect, jeweler, and lithographer. Described as "the world's most reproduced artist", DeGraz ...

and George Hardy assisting (Jacome donated the pieces to the city, and it now hang at the

Tucson Convention Center The Tucson Convention Center (previously named the Tucson Community Center) is a large multi-purpose convention center located in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Built in 1971, the location includes an 8,962-seat indoor arena, two performing arts Theat ...

, one at the west entrance and the other outside the Leo Rich Theatre). * ''Tucson in the ‘70s’ Old Pueblo Club''; Tucson, Arizona, Oil and Panel, 1952.

California projects and murals

* ''Mission San Francisco de Asis'', (painted with Jay Risling assisting), Mission High School Library, San Francisco, California * ''Civilization Through the Arts and Crafts as Taught to the Neophyte Indians, ''(painted with Betty Willey)'', ''Mission High School Library, San Francisco, California * ''Sports and Hunting in California ''mural, Coit Tower, San Francisco, California * ''Overland Pioneers'', Tracy Post Office,

Tracy, California Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 93,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Tracy is located inside a geographic triangle form ...

, (painting is now missing) * ''Spaniards'', Tracy Post Office, Tracy, California * ''Days of the First Railroad'', Tracy Post Office, Tracy, California

References

* Arnold, Elliott, Tucson Festival of Arts, 1951. * Ainsworth, Edward, Widening Horizons: Painters of the Western Desert, 1952. * Kovinick, Phil. The Women artist in the American West, 1976. * Eric Firestone Gallery, Women Artist of the West, 2004 * DVD- Maynard Dixon Art and Spirit 2008

External links

Oral history interview with Edith Hamlin and Dorothy Cravath, May 27, 1964
from Archives of American Art
List of Edith Hamlin murals in California
from The Living New Deal website
The Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts
in

, a non-profit organization furthering Maynard Dixon's legacy *
Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit
, a feature-length documentary from 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlin, Edith 1902 births American women painters 20th-century American painters American muralists Artists from Tucson, Arizona 1992 deaths Artists from Oakland, California San Francisco Art Institute alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Painters from California Painters from Arizona Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American women artists Women muralists Federal Art Project artists Public Works of Art Project artists