Ohio State University mural study   Save
Ohio History Connection Museum
Description: Study sketch for a mural from 1939 done in pencil on brown paper. The sketch shows two men and a woman standing near a man seated next to a globe, presumed to be Sir Francis Bacon. All of the figures are in Elizabethan period clothing. The drawing has a grid of five squares vertically and six squares horizontally for 30 total squares. On a wall in the background there is some writing, "Francis Bacon / Francis Bacon" and scribbled lines below the name ending in "1939." On the left border there is text, "LORD CHANCELOR" [sic] and "LIGHT." There is red paint on the upper right corner of the drawing. On the back in pencil is written "Sketch for section of / W.P.A. mural in the Social / Administration Building / Library O. S. Univ. Campus / 1939-1940." It is one of the many studies for murals commissioned to Burkhart in 1930s, some of them funded by the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. Burkhart (1905-1969) was an artist very well known to Columbus residents during his lifetime. He was born in Union Township, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1927, he moved to the East Coast and studied art under the direction of Charles Hawthorne, among others. He returned to Ohio in 1931 to teach at Ohio School of Art in Columbus. He painted 3,000 pieces during his career, many of which were portraits of Ohio residents. In addition to painting local street scenes and rural landscapes, he is also known for numerous self-portraits. He was married to Mary Ann Burkhart, née Martin (1918-1955), a famous New York art model who became an artist herself. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H82907
Subjects: Burkhart, Emerson (1905-1969); Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Public art; Federal Art Project; Works Progress Administration; Ohio State University--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)