Skip to main content

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Advanced Search
Mountains in the Snow by Ethel and Jenne (Chavez) Magafan
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of Olin Conservation, Inc.
Mountains in the Snow
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of Olin Conservation, Inc.

Mountains in the Snow

Artist
Year1943
Classification painting
Medium oil on canvas
Dimensions9'6" x 19'
Credits New Deal Art Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location
  • Identical twins Ethel and Jenne Magafan each produced several murals for the federal government under the New Deal art programs, but Mountains in Snow is their only known collaboration. For previous post office commissions, the twins chose to depict lively scenes of American life, including cowboy dances, western wildlife, and prairie fires. The committee that commissioned Mountains in Snow, however, requested that the mural’s subject matter not distract from boardroom business. The Magafans therefore produced a quiet, idyllic scene of stately trees, vast plains, and soaring mountain peaks. In the lower right portion of the mural, two horses pull a large wagon heaped with hay, atop which sits a red-shirted farmer. Traveling behind tall, barren trees, the horses’ path leads to the middle distance, where a herd of grazing cattle awaits their bounty. Beyond this, the land swells into a range of mountains, covered in places by delicately rendered evergreens, brown and yellow vegetation, and snow. Completed in 1943 but not installed until 1949, following a tumultuous time in the nation’s history, the mural communicates a feeling of quiet serenity embodied by the wide-open American landscape.