# Jean Charlot artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jean-charlot/
Profile generated: 2026-05-11T20:32:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1898-02-07
- Death date: 1979-03-20
- Nationality: French, American
- Movements: Mexican muralism
- Common media: Oil painting, Fresco, Printmaking, Lithography, Illustration, Sculpture

## About Jean Charlot

Jean Charlot (1898–1979), born Louis Henri Jean Charlot in Paris, was a French-American painter, muralist, printmaker, sculptor, and illustrator whose career bridged Mexico, the continental United States, and Hawaii. After serving in World War I, Charlot moved to Mexico in the early 1920s, where he became closely associated with the Mexican muralism movement alongside Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. His work drew on indigenous Mexican culture, religious iconography, and rural life. Later based in the United States, Charlot completed major mural commissions and taught at institutions including the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the University of Hawaii. His graphic output spanned frescoes, oil paintings, lithographs, woodcuts, book illustrations, and sculpture. Works by Charlot are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his career is documented in the Getty Union List of Artist Names and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History.

## Common works and media

Charlot's most commonly encountered works at auction and in private collections include lithographs, woodcuts, and other graphic prints, often depicting religious, pastoral, or Mexican cultural subjects. Oil paintings range from easel-scale landscapes and still lifes to mural studies. Fresco cartoons and preparatory drawings for his large-scale mural commissions also appear. Book illustrations and limited-edition illustrated books form another significant category. Sculptural works, including small-scale religious figures, are less frequent but documented. Collectors should distinguish between original signed prints, later restrikes, and reproductive posters, as these differ substantially in value.

## Market and appraisal context

With over 400 auction appearances recorded, Jean Charlot's work appears with moderate frequency in the international auction market. Collectors most commonly encounter his original prints—particularly lithographs and woodcuts—as well as easel paintings, works on paper, and book illustrations. Value is influenced by medium and period: fresco studies and works from his Mexican period tend to attract stronger interest than later reproductive prints. For prints, edition size, impression quality, and documentation are important factors. Appraisals should consider provenance, exhibition history, condition, and comparable realized prices, as Charlot's broad output across multiple media and decades resists a single valuation benchmark.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity research from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Jean Charlot, identity data is sourced from the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Library of Congress, and the Museum of Modern Art. Market observations reference Appraisily and Invaluable auction-lot data.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q432546
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charlot
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500027773
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/109001357/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81068686
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/1074
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/16438