Art: To the Lowest Bidders

When a public building is erected, the job is done—always in theory if not always in fact—by the contractor who submits the lowest bid. With respect to murals which nowadays adorn big public buildings, this principle would not ordinarily work. The lowest bidder might turn out to be a sign painter, a Greek restaurant dauber, a student. Yet last week in Philadelphia a raft of murals stood completed which represented perhaps the first, and certainly the biggest, artistic bidfest in the U. S. The murals decorated a new $3,390,000 Municipal Court, scheduled to...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!