Slavery paintings coming down from Atlanta office

ATLANTA (AP) — A newly elected commissioner will remove murals depicting an idealized version of slavery from the lobby of Georgia’s Agriculture Department.

Republican Gary Black said he does not like the murals and will send those he considers most objectionable to the archives when he takes office next month. Black said the department can do a better job showing modern farming.

He will also take down a mural showing partially naked American Indians. Paintings of an early agriculture laboratory scene and a market may be displayed elsewhere in the Atlanta building.

The paintings were finished by the late George Beattie in 1956. His friend, sculptor George Beasley, said the paintings should stay. Beasley said the works are not historically accurate, but they reflect a painter who looked for the positive.