Courtesy photo One of the two New Hampshire-themed murals created in 1941 by artists Philip Guston and Musa McKim now on display at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester. (Courtesy photo)

MANCHESTER — The Currier Museum of Art celebrates two long-forgotten masterpieces of American art with its new exhibition titled “WPA in NH: Philip Guston and Musa McKim.”

In 1941, the famed artist Philip Guston and the poet/painter Musa McKim painted a pair of monumental murals for the federal forestry building in Laconia. Each measured 14 feet in width.

The expansive paintings depict sustainable logging and the restoration of New Hampshire forests around the White Mountains. The images were commissioned by the Works Progress Administration, the agency created under the New Deal to carry out public projects and support artists.

Although these magnificent murals are of great artistic significance, they have long been forgotten, as the original building in Laconia was repurposed.

The paintings have been carefully restored by the U.S. General Services Administration and are back in New Hampshire where they can now be seen at the Currier Museum of Art.

Courtesy photo One of the two New Hampshire-themed murals created in 1941 by artists Philip Guston and Musa McKim now on display at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester. (Courtesy photo)

The exhibit has been made possible by the Center of Fine Arts of the U.S. General Services Administration. The Guston Foundation, responsible for the legacy of Philip Guston, and Musa Mayer, daughter of Guston and McKim, have supported the Currier’s exhibition. The murals will remain on loan at the Currier until December.

The paintings mark important points in the careers of the two artists, who were married to each other. Shortly after completing this mural, Guston gave up realistic painting to focus on abstract expressionism, and he would become a leader of the New York School.

McKim, meanwhile, focused her career on poetry and writing. Her collection, “Alone with the Moon,” was published in 1994.

Article submitted by Tiffany Eddy

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