Arthur Getz

Getz is best known for his entertaining “New Yorker” covers, which number more than 200. Before moving to West Cornwall, Connecticut, he lived in New York City from 1935 to 1969. His early career was devoted to mural painting. As the winner of competitions for the United States Post Office, he was commissioned to design murals for post office buildings in Lancaster, New York, Bronson, Michigan and Luverne, Alabama. In 1987, the artist donated this series of tempera paintings to the Museum. Some are competition designs which were never executed; others are mural designs which were used to complete large scale wall paintings throughout the country. The Public Works Administration provided struggling artists with the support necessary to survive during the economic depression of the 1930s. In a letter of 1987, Getz wrote of how difficult it was to, “interpret in realistic subject matter the ponderous questions of war … and the meanings of social security.” Getz often visited the New Britain Museum where his paintings have been exhibited regularly since the museum organized his retrospective of 1974.