Plantation Figures.
Gouache on paper, 1941. Signed, Chesse, and dated, 41, lower left. Inscribed as titled on verso. 158x178 mm; 6¼x7 inches.

Ralph Chessé grew up in New Orleans, and moved to San Francisco in 1924. While he is recognized as a puppeteer and movie set designer, famous for marionettes such as those he created for the 1937 production of Eugene O'Neil's The Emperor Jones, Chessé also had an early career as a painter and printmaker during the WPA. In 1934, he was one of 26 artists chosen to paint the frescoes in San Francisco's Coit Tower as part of the Public Works of Art Project, the first New Deal program benefiting artists.

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