Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk (February 23, 1856 – February 7, 1935) was an American portrait and figure painter, and muralist. He taught at the Cooper Union, the Art Students League of New York, and was one of the founders of the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts.
At the turn of the 20th century, Volk was commissioned to paint three murals in the Ramsey County Courthouse in Saint Paul, Minnesota and two murals at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa, one of which is “The Fur Trading Period of Des Moines” which Volk completed in 1913.
The pieces seen here show the blank courthouse wall which would become the canvas for Volk’s mural, the same wall after completion, and the original color study done by Volk as he developed the final colors for the mural.
Volk’s completed work was announced in the Des Moines Register and Leader on November 9, 1913.