In 1937 Bouché won the Treasury Section competition to paint a mural on the rear wall of the auditorium of the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, D.C. This commission was one of the most sought-after awards of the New Deal projects and was covered extensively by the press. Bouché created a three-part mural of the landscape of the Far West (see illustration). The figure in The Mural Assistant sits in front of the incomplete Interior Building mural. The figure’s placement is somewhat ambiguous since the mural does not at first appear to be a painting. Although there are photographs in the Bouché papers of the artist sitting on a ladder in front of his mural, just as in the painting, the figure in The Mural Assistant is not the artist. According to Bouché’s daughter, she was supposed to pose for this painting but became dizzy and was replaced by her uncle, Milton Wright. Published accounts give a different version of the circumstances, however: Bouché, who was always ready to see the humor in ordinary scenes, thought his small brother-inlaw seemed ludicrous sitting atop the ladder and so decided to paint him. Wright is situated before the center of the landscape where several deer are sketched in. The figures of the Native American and White Man overlooking the land in the extreme left of the mural are not included. Nor had Bouché yet drawn in the medallions with the symbols of the Department of the Interior in the border along the bottom of the mural. Its incomplete state gave Bouché the opportunity to paint the landscape background of the easel painting in broad, full strokes. One can see in their application the artist’s love of the sensuous qualities of the medium, which brought life to Bouché’s seemingly drab genre scenes. This is especially true in paintings such as The Mural Assistant, which has a palette limited primarily to quiet grays, beiges, and ochers.

Four years after the stock market crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated the New Deal, a program of domestic reform meant to revive the economy and alleviate the problem of mass unemployment. Toward these ends, he established various new federal agencies, putting many more people to work to do the increased business of government. Thousands of artists were employed, most through the largest program, the Works Progress Administration. Although the government did not dictate the type of art that was to be produced, it did encourage the use of a representational style and American themes. As a result, most of the art created in the decade prior to World War II was humanistic in orientation.

Artists, writers, and philosophers of the period became obsessed with the social relevance of art. Although a small group of American artists did attack the societal ills of the nation (housing shortages, unemployment) and of the world in general (the rise of fascism and militarism), most adopted a more pragmatic and even positive attitude. American scene painters captured busy city dwellers on streets, in buses, at work, and at play. Occasionally artists infused an element of humor into the pathos of everyday existence, even in scenes that allude to the political disasters of the day. Regionalists were particularly fond of idealizing the past and aggrandizing the present accomplishments of the country. In fact, the myth of America as a country where everyone lives a pastoral, carefree existence emerged with new vigor in the art of the 1930s.

The diversity of the people also emerged as a strong current of social realism. Artists who were accustomed to working in their studios now looked beyond their immediate circles for models. Individuals of various races, professions, or creeds inspired some of the most moving portraits of the century and demonstrated the soul of the people.