NOT JUST ANOTHER DEPRESSION ERA MURAL

Today i've decided to take a short trip, to one of my favorite place in the city :

THE BEACH CHALET .

At the end of the golden gate park,facing the ocean ,the chalet is the house of one of the most amazing mural from the depression era ,but also mosaics and an impressive wooden carved staircase.Mostly overlooked by tourists ,aiming for the more famous coit tower.

All the murals in the Beach Chalet were commissioned by the WPA in 1936 and executed by one artist: Lucien Labaudt. Labaudt was born in France and moved to the USA in the early 1900s. Largely influenced by Cezane he was a self taught painter but also an accomplished dress designer to the rich and famous of San Francisco High Society.

The chalet's murals depict four San Francisco tourist spots: the beach, Golden Gate Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Marina. Recognizable figures of the time from the arts and politics are shown in the mural scenes, engaging in leisure activities. Since Labaudt painted the mural in 1936-37, during the Great Depression, such leisure would have actually been out of reach for most people. Showing high-profile figures, including WPA administrators, enjoying their leisure time, was most probably a political comment on the inequalities of the times. He is also responsible for decorating the curved walls in Coit Tower with frescoes (these frescoes are unfortunately not available for public viewing).....

Labaudt died in a plane crash over Burma in 1943, on assignment to do war sketches for Life Magazine.....