Rudolf Hess (artist)
Rudolf Hess (January 31, 1903 – November 9, 1986) was an American fine art painter, sculptor and art critic, based in Northern California. His work is of the German Expressionist school[1] and the subject matter covers many genres including landscapes and nature, portraits and everyday city life.
Rudolf Hess | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 31, 1903 Valley Ford, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 1986 (aged 83) Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Rudi Hess |
| Alma mater | San Francisco Art Institute |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1920s–1970s |
| Style | German Expressionist |
| Spouse |
Florence Louise Mackie
(m. 1946) |
| Signature | |
 | |
Biography
Rudolf Hess was born January 31, 1903, in Valley Ford, a town 75 miles north of San Francisco, in Sonoma County, California.[1] He attended California School of Fine Arts (CSFA) (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute) in the 1920s.[1]
Hess was an art critic and contributor to The Argus, which was a popular San Francisco-based art journal, known for being conservative and primarily highlighting the technical aspects of painting.[2] Hess visited artist Diego Rivera in Mexico, in order to write about him and learn more about his process and his most recent mural.[2] However Hess wrote a scathing review in The Argus (in 1928) titled, “The Tragedy of Rivera," which criticized Diego Rivera as an artist, and Rivera's mural at Secretaría de Educación Pública in Mexico City.[3][2][4] This article helped in polarized the art community and prompted artist Ralph Stackpole, who was both a founder of The Argus and a friend of Diego Rivera to write a letter in January 1929 to The Argus editor, in response.[5]
From 1929 to 1968, Hess worked in Sacramento for the California Department of Transportation.[1] Hess married Florence Louise Mackie in 1946 in Burlingame, California.[6]
In 1971, Hess served as president of Northern California Arts Inc. (NCA), an arts nonprofit in the Sacramento, California area.[7]
Death and legacy
Hess died on November 9, 1986, in Sacramento, California.[1]
Hess is included in the 1940s book, Who's Who in American Art and in Edan Milton Hughes' Artists in California 1786-1940.
A 1982 magazine was published by the California Department of Transportation, Highway Recollections of Rudolf Hess, Issue 35 and constituents of a recorded interview of Hess.[8]
Exhibitions
- 1925 – San Francisco Art Association;[1]
- 1926 – San Francisco Art Association;
- 1927 – San Francisco Art Association;
- 1927 – Modern Gallery (in San Francisco), solo exhibition;[9]
- 1928 – Oakland Art Gallery;
- 1935 – San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMA), inaugural exhibition;[1]
- 1945 – San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMA);[1]
- 1949 – Crocker Art Museum;[1]
- 1951 – Crocker Art Museum.
References
- "Rudolf Hess Biography". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- Ellenshaw, Hilary (2012-05-01). "Diego Rivera at the San Francisco Art Institute". San Francisco Art Institute. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- Hess, Rudolf (October 1928). "The Tragedy of Rivera". The Argus. San Francisco: Argus Publish Company. 4: 207. Retrieved 2018-06-16 – via Google Books.
- Lee, Anthony W. (1999). Painting on the Left: Diego Rivera, Radical Politics, and San Francisco's Public Murals. University of California Press. pp. 42, 242. ISBN 0520219775 – via Google Books.
- Hailey, Gene (1936). California Art Research: Ralph Stackpole, Jo Mora, Beniamino Bufano. San Francisco Public Library, California Art Research Project. San Francisco, Calif. : [s.n.]
- "The Davis-Wood Family of Gadsden County, Florida, and Their Forebears". Southern Historical Press. 1979. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- "- About". Northern California Arts Inc. (NCA). Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- Highway Recollections of Rudolf Hess, Issue 35. California: California Department of Transportation. 1982. Retrieved 2018-06-17 – via Google Books.
- The Argus: A Journal of Art Criticism. San Francisco: Argus Publishing Company. 1928. p. 70.