The Paxton Murals: Neptune

Accession number:
1913.01

Maker:
William McGregor Paxton
(1869-1941)

Historical period:
1913

Miltary branch:

Wars and Conflicts:

Type:

Dimensions:
H x W: 60 in. / 240 in.(5 ft. /20 ft.)

Acquisition date:
1913

Credit line:
The Army and Navy Club

Location:
,

Provenance:

From 1913: The Army and Navy Club

Label:

The matching murals at the opposite ends of The Army and Navy Club dining room were executed in 1913 and 1914 by the eminent Boston Artist William McGregor Paxton. Paxton won the Club’s 1912 design competition and was commissioned to produce the two panels. The murals are considered superb examples of Paxton’s decorative art.

Primarily a portraitist, Paxton is most honored for his paintings of American Presidents Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge. He studied with Claude Monet in Paris, and his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Art, among others.

The allegorical themes in the murals depict Neptune entertaining an American sailor and Mars in friendly discourse with an American Soldier. Paxton chose to depict a mid-19th century sailor and a Soldier of the Mexican War, so “the contrast between the modern and the mythological will not be too sharp.”

The Paxton Murals are the only examples of such work produced by the artist in his prolific 55-year career. The contract provided for approval of the mural designs by the Club’s Building Committee and renovation architects Hornblower & Marshall. During the 1984-1987 reconstruction and renovation of The Army and Navy Club building, the murals were carefully removed from the walls and conserved by Charles Olin. Olin, a preeminent conservator of American art, also conserved the Gettysburg Cyclorama, among other projects. His son, David, continues the conservation firm to this day. Upon completion of the conservation and building renovation, the Paxton murals were reassembled on the current walls of the Club’s dining room.