George Joseph Mess

George Joseph Mess (June 30, 1898 – June 24, 1962) was an American painter, printmaker, commercial artist, and art educator. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native began his career as a commercial artist and teacher; however, he became nationally known for his work as an etcher, printmaker, and painter. Along his wife, Evelynne Mess Daily, he became a prominent member of the Indianapolis and Brown County, Indiana, arts communities. Mess produced mostly Impressionist-style landscapes as a painter, but he was especially known for his aquatint etchings and prints of rural scenes in the modern styles of the 1930s and 1940s. Mess was also a founder of the Circle Art Academy, a commercial art school in Indianapolis, Indiana, that operated from 1927 to 1932, and founded a local engraving company. Mess was the recipient of several prizes and awards for his art from the Hoosier Salon, the Herron Art Institute (a forerunner of the Herron School of Art and Design and the Indianapolis Museum of Art), the Indiana State Fair, and various state and local arts clubs. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indiana Historical Society, and Minnetrista, among others. His illustrations also appeared in several print publications.