Lot Essay
Although born in Paris, Jean Charlot spent an extensive part of his working life in Mexico, where his mother's family had originated from. Charlot and his mother moved to Mexico City from Europe in 1921 where he befriended Fernando Leal and Diego Rivera and, at Leal's invitation, participated in the founding of Mexian Muralism with his fresco The Massacre of the Templo Mayor (1921-22). He later relocated to Hawaii in 1949 to become professor of art at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, and he remained there until his death in 1979.