Missing for decades, restored historic art returns to downtown Modesto’s former post office

Pat Clark
·2 min read

Two Depression-era oil paintings from Modesto’s historic former downtown post office have been recovered after being left in a garage for decades.

They have joined seven other paintings by artist Ray Boynton on display in the building’s lobby after being returned on July 22, according to Sean Copeland, one of the property managers for the building.

The recovered paintings are called lunettes because of their half-moon shape. They are depictions of Modesto, titled “Fruit Picking” and “Symbol of Water and Wealth.”

Their road back to the historic building at 1125 I St. was a long one, but is completed.

“...The public (can now) see these beautiful paintings in the location where they originally were,” said Jon Hogan, owner of the building’s property management company.

They hang in a public portion of the building, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. There are two private tenants in the rest of the building.

“Symbol of Water and Wealth” by Ray Boynton is returned to its home at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.
“Symbol of Water and Wealth” by Ray Boynton is returned to its home at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.

According to a plaque in the lobby, there were 13 paintings by Boynton in the building in 1937, commissioned by the United States government.

But when the building was purchased in 2013, only six lunettes and one mural remained. Four lunettes remain missing, Copeland said.

Missing for decades

The paintings had been unaccounted for since 1967, when the federal government took them down to remodel the post office, according to a 2013 Bee story.

The two recently recovered were first returned in 2011 after someone in the building’s ownership group put out a message to the community seeking the missing lunettes, Hogan said.

A former employee from the 1960s responded that he had two of them, stored in his garage. The lunettes, warped and scraped, had to be heavily restored, Hogan said.

According to The Bee story, the two lunettes were shipped to a warehouse in Virginia before the federal Government Services Agency wrapped up its sale of the former post office to Finch Fund LLC.

Art conservator Arthur Page and Tom Heffelfinger hang the painting “Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.
Art conservator Arthur Page and Tom Heffelfinger hang the painting “Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.

Because the artwork is owned by the federal government, the GSA took them and restored them, Hogan said.

But it took more than a decade to get them back to the Modesto building. “Unfortunately it’s taken a while,” Hogan said.

“We are very happy to have them back and we would love for anyone who’s interested to come in and view them,” he said.

Lorie Garcia, a historian who was a consultant on the building restoration, told Bee photographer Andy Alfaro the paintings came down when the GSA put post offices across the country to different uses in the late 1960s.

Now that they’ve been returned, she commended the government on following through to get the artwork back to Modesto.

“They’ve come home,” she said. “And that’s like the end of the story, which is one of the best things ever.”

“Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton was returned to the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Thursday, July 28, 2022.
“Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton was returned to the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Thursday, July 28, 2022.
“Symbol of Water and Wealth” by Ray Boynton is returned to its home at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.
“Symbol of Water and Wealth” by Ray Boynton is returned to its home at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The oil on masonite painting was one of nine murals commissioned during the 1930’s era arts program.
“Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton was returned to the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The paintings had been removed during a remodel in 1967.
“Fruit Picking” by Ray Boynton was returned to the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. The paintings had been removed during a remodel in 1967.
An inscription on a fresco describes the New Deal era art commission at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022.
An inscription on a fresco describes the New Deal era art commission at the El Viejo Building, the former downtown Post Office, in Modesto, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022.