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BY EDNA COLLINS Written For. American Statesman The watercolors of Kindred Mc Leary on exhibition through Sept ember at Laguna Gloria are causing much interest, chiefly because of the remarkable qualities of the work, but also because he is some thing of legendary figure in Austin. He made many friends and ad mirers during his two periods of residence here: one as a student in the Architecture Dept. at the University in the early 20's and again for the season in 1927-28 as an instructor in the same depart ment. In September of that year he went to Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and taught architectural design there until his death last May 29th. During this period of about twenty years he painted murals in many eastern cities: the Federal Building, Pittsburgh; the Madison Avenue Post Office in New York; the Post Office in South Norwalk, Conn.; the War Department mural, Washington, D. C.; the Public Li brary, Somerset, Pa; and five panels in the reredos of the Ca thedral of the Holy Rosary in Wilkinsburgh, Pa.; as well as many in private homes. Of these the most important is, of course, the one for the War Depart ment in the Pentagon Building, as it was the most important mural project under Government direc tion. It represents the Four Free doms, center, protected by the ma terials of war, which surround them. It is interesting to recall that the painting was made before Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill met to frame the Atlantic Charter, and long before the posters of the Four Freedoms done by Norman Rockwell were displayed in every hamlet in the country. Best known of Mr. McLeary’s mural projects is probably the one in the New York Madison Avenue Post Office. He wrote an article on this for the “Magazine of Art”, Sept. 1939, in which he describes his approach to a mural problem and his methods of handling it. Reproductions of eight sections of the mural accompany the article. He considered his “most satisfac tory” mural to be the one in the Public Library at Somerset, Pa. Its one panel is not large but he liked the idea, the organization and especially the color. Preliminary drawings full scale, are now in the possession of his family at Colum bus, Texas. The panels for the Cathedral at Wilkinsburgh were his last com missioned decoration, and he was interely interested in it as he was in everything he undertook. The difficulty of this problem lay in the fact that the panels were rather small and contained detailed fig ures whereas the distances in the building were great. His studies, after leaving the University, were with Jacques Carlu in Paris and again in Rome. Upon his return he entered the studios of Joseph Urban in New York, doing decorations in theaters and other large buildings. He fol lowed him to Florida where they worked in some of the large houses. After going to Carnegie Tech, he spent two summers painting in France. Later, under the influence of Alexander Kostellow, he became much interested in the idea of color divorced from form, but discarded it before he began the succession of murals.
Newspaper Details
Austin Sunday American Statesman
Austin, Texas, US
Sun, Sep 25, 1949
Page 36
Full Page
Clipped by
Isabelle J.
USA 06 Jul 2026
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