Beach Chalet: Fresco Mural Cycle – San Francisco CA

Description

The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park, built in 1925, is home to a trove of New Deal artworks in the first floor lobby, or entrance hall.

The centerpiece of the Beach Chalet’s artworks is an enormous fresco mural by Lucien Labaudt, entitled “San Francisco Life.”   This magnificent mural cycle is 9′ high and covers all four walls of the lobby (about 1500 square feet in all). It was painted by Labaudt in 1936-37.

The mural cycle has nine sections depicting San Francisco locales: the Embarcadero & Fisherman’s Wharf on the north wall; Baker’s Beach on the east wall, north half;  Golden Gate Park on the east wall, south half; Land’s End and the Marina on the south wall; and four individual figures at the Civic Center, Union Square and Chinatown along the west wall.  Labaudt included people from his personal life in these scenes, some well-known figures from the arts and politics of the time, and ordinary working people.  

The signage below the murals is excellent at identifying everything and everyone in the various scenes. The panels are included in the photo gallery here after the corresponding mural panels (two combo panels are shown twice). The numbering system is ours, for clarity.

All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).