Frances Badger (1904 - 1958) 
Autumn in Illinois, 1936
tempera on illustration board, 10 by 39 inches 
Mural study for Audy Juvenile Home, Joliet 
Illinois State Museum collection, Gift of the Artist 

Frances Badger painted an happy, perfect autumn day on a farm in this scene. What details show this perfection?

Was this a realistic view of farm life during the Depression? 
Why do you think she chose to show an idealized version of a farm?

This painting is a study for a wall-sized mural Frances Badger was hired to design. She was employed as mural designer for the WPA in the Chicago area. The mural is an idealized country scene of rural Illinois in the autumn. She painted it in a regionalist style.