Allen True Murals

Monday was another rainy day on the trip. We decided to try some indoor activities to pass the day in Denver. After a brief tour of the Capitol building, we headed over to the Denver Historical Museum. This is a well known museum of the old west with a very good research facility.


We discovered that the History Museum, along with the Denver Library and the Denver Art Museum had just opened an Allen True Exhibit. At this point, we had no idea who Allen True was. We quickly learned that True was a muralist who specialized in "old west" scenes and that his work is preserved in dozens of buildings in western states.


The exhibit at the History Museum displayed several of his preliminary works, done on a moderate scale before the final murals were painted. I liked the two works prepared for the city/county government center just a few blocks away.


After lunch, we walked into the government center after a very thorough security check and found the two rooms that hold the actual murals. One is in the very quiet office of the Clerk of Probate Court, the other in the much busier Clerk of Criminal Court. The staff in both rooms allowed me to photograph the murals.


There is a nice plaque placed beside the mural in the Criminal Court Clerk's office that tells a bit more about True. Note the spelling of his name on the plaque versus in the exhibit.


The Exhibit had just opened on the day we left Minnesota. A brochure describes a walking tour of a number of True murals in downtown Denver.