Arthur Runquist, “Lunch”, 1939, Oil on Canvas, Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration
Arthur Runquist, the elder of the two Runquist brothers, was born in South Bend, Washington in 1891 and educated at the University of Oregon. He was Alfred Schroff’s assistant there until he left in 1920 to study at the Art Students League. Like his brother Albert, he exhibited at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 and the American Artists Congress in New York a year later. In addition, Arthur had work at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939. Working for the WPA, he completed two murals with the theme, Tree of Life, painted in 1938 at the University of Oregon.
His painted documentation of the workers gained him a reputation for social commentary. Figures are more prominent in his work than in those of his brother Albert Runquist. Even landscapes were secondary in importance to the people appearing in them. Like his brother, he recorded life on the Oregon coast with sensitivity. In their early works it is often difficult to distinguish one brother’s work from the other. It was only later that their styles began to differ. Arthur’s work was somewhat tighter, more linear and figure centered, while Albert’s work was looser, more painterly, showing atmosphere and effects of light.