Above: "Cowboy Dance," a mural study by Jenne Magafan (1916-1952), created for the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, 1941. On October 20, 1952, at only 35 years of age, Magafan died of a cerebral hemorrhage in New York. She had been an accomplished artist, for example, painting a mural for the Beverly Hills Hotel, and painting another mural that was displayed in the White House. Her twin sister, Ethel (1916-1993), was also an artist, and also participated in New Deal artwork projects. Like their physical appearance, their artwork was very similar, with one newspaper noting that "the works of the Magafan twins were so much alike that it took a practiced eye to detect the difference" (see "Jenne Magafan, Noted Artist, Dies At Albany," The Times Record (Troy, New York), October 21, 1952, and "Jenne Magafan Dies In New York State," Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1952). Just two months before she passed away, Jenne was with her sister Ethel in Europe, both of them studying and traveling on Fulbright Awards ("Village Notes," The Kingston Daily Freemen (Kingston, New York), August 15, 1952). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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