George Joseph Mess (1898 - 1962) Oil on canvas, signed lower right, Verso is signed " George Mess" and titled "Humble Home" measures 12 x 14 and 14 x 16 inches w/ frame. An Indiana etcher, painter and teacher, George Joseph Mess studied art at Columbia University, the John Herron Art School, the Modern School of Design, Chicago, and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. He also received scholarships for further studies at the Louis Tiffany Foundation, New York City. Along with his brother Gordon, an Indiana Landscape painter, George Jo Mess founded the commercial art business, the Circle Art Company, in downtown Indianapolis. He married Evelynne Bernloehr Mess (b. 1903), who became an accomplished printmaker in her own right. The two artists founded and taught at the Circle Art Academy from 1927 to 1932. In1937, George and Evelynne Mess moved to Chicago. George Jo Mess worked as a commercial artist on the staff of both Esquire and Coronet until he returned to Indianapolis in 1940.

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