George Washington High School (San Francisco)
The lobby is decorated with murals by Victor Arnautoff in the "buon fresco" style, depicting scenes from the life and times of George Washington. Although intended to shed light on Washington's and America's past, the inclusion of Black slaves picking cotton and of settlers being urged by Washington to step over a prostrate Native American have led to calls for the work's removal. In June 2019, the school board voted to remove the murals[4]
About Victor Arnautoff, whose art is being destroyed in the interest of erasing history we don't like.
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff (born Uspenivka, Taurida Governorate (Russian Empire), November 11, 1896 – died Leningrad, Soviet Union, March 22, 1979) was a Russian-American painter and professor of art. He worked in San Francisco and the Bay Area from 1925 to 1963, including two decades as a teacher at Stanford University, and was particularly prolific as a muralist during the 1930s. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, but returned to the Soviet Union after the death of his wife, continuing his career there before his death.
About Victor Arnautoff, whose art is being destroyed in the interest of erasing history we don't like.
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff (born Uspenivka, Taurida Governorate (Russian Empire), November 11, 1896 – died Leningrad, Soviet Union, March 22, 1979) was a Russian-American painter and professor of art. He worked in San Francisco and the Bay Area from 1925 to 1963, including two decades as a teacher at Stanford University, and was particularly prolific as a muralist during the 1930s. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, but returned to the Soviet Union after the death of his wife, continuing his career there before his death.
