Deer Path, Olive Rush, ca. 1930, Brooklyn Museum: American Art

Size: Sheet: 24 13/16 x 18 7/8 in. (63 x 48 cm) Frame: 36 x 28 x 1 1/2 in. (91.4 x 71.1 x 3.8 cm) Medium: Transparent watercolor with touches of opaque watercolor on dark tan, thick, rough textured wove paper

Archives Road Trip: Oklahoma

As part of the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts, artists throughout the United States received mural commissions for post office buildings. Olive Rush (1893–1966) was hired to paint a large canvas mural for the post office in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. After speaking with locals about the project, Rush decided to highlight Osage Nation. “Pawhuska is the heart and center of the Osage tribe…they would hear nothing of farm subjects,” wrote Rush in a letter to Section director Edward Bruce. This sketch diagrams Rush’s earthy color scheme in two scenes: on the left, Osage leaders meet with white settlers; and on the right, Osage leaders hold council among themselves.