Fine Arts Mural

Fine Arts Mural
Jean Charlot
1942

While an artist-in-residence at the University of Georgia from 1941 to 1944, Jean Charlot painted the mural on the Fine Arts building which still occupies a prominent place on the University of Georgia’s North Campus. While drawing on many themes from antiquity, including Greek deities such as Pan and classical representations of comedy and tragedy, the vibrant color and fluid movement of the figures is thoroughly modern and evokes contemporary themes in Mexican artistic practice.

Born in Paris, France, in 1898 to a French father and Mexican mother, Jean Charlot’s upbringing reflected the diversity of experience that would come to define his life. Having served in the French Army during the First World War, he moved to Mexico with his mother in 1921, where he worked with the famed Mexican painter Diego Rivera as an assistant. Charlot worked on several public art projects in Mexico City, and he made a religious pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine, an experience that impacted him greatly. He moved to New York City in the late 1920s and assisted the Carnegie Institution in its expedition to the ancient Maya ruins at Chichen Itza in the Mexican Yucatan. This trend of working with major U.S. establishments began his sustained involvement in art institutions and universities across the United States.

To learn more about Jean Charlot, explore the web sources below. The first source is a contemporary report on Charlot’s mural shortly after he painted it. The second covers Charlot’s life and achievements. Finally, the third link will take you to an interactive map of Charlot’s works of art across the globe.

Local News Report: https://jeancharlot.org/english-texts/1944%20Fresco%20Murals%20U%20GA.pdf

Charlot's Life: https://jeancharlot.org/books-on-jc/1976_ethel-moore_gma-exhibition.pdf

Global Map of Charlot's Murals: https://uhmagis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=455f3f2e2fb44633b3aba9863effec7d