Lee Fritz Randolph (1880–1956),[2] was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and academic administrator.[3] He served as the director of California School of Fine Arts (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute).[4] He taught painting, drawing, and anatomy courses.[1]
Lee Fritz Randolph | |
|---|---|
| Director of California School of Fine Arts | |
| In office 1917–1941 | |
| Preceded by | Pedro Joseph de Lemos |
| Succeeded by | William Alexander Gaw |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 3, 1880 Ravenna, Ohio, United States |
| Died | September 3, 1956 (aged 76) Salinas, California, United States |
| Resting place | El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Marion Wilson Ellis (m. 1910–1927; her death),[1] Hilda Southwell Bunt (m. 1933–1956; death) |
| Relations | Louise Fitz Randolph (aunt) |
| Education | Stevenson Art School, Cincinnati Art Academy, Art Students League of New York, Académie Julian, Académie Colarossi, École des Beaux-Arts |
| Occupation | Painter, printmaker, educator, academic administrator |
Early life and education
editLee Fritz Randolph III was born June 3, 1880, in Ravenna, Ohio.[5] His parents were Clara North (née Lee) and Rev. Reuben Fitz Randolph Jr..[1] His mother family was from Virginia, and she was a distant relative of Gen. Robert E. Lee.[1]
He studied at the Stevenson Art School in Pittsburgh, under Horatio S. Stevenson; the Cincinnati Art Academy (now Art Academy of Cincinnati), under Thomas Satterwhite Noble and Frank Duveneck; and the Art Students League of New York, under Kenyon Cox, and George Bridgman.[5]
He traveled to Europe for some ten years to study art; including at study at Académie Julian in Paris, under Jean-Paul Laurens; at the Académie Colarossi in Paris; and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, under Léon Bonnat.[5][1] He later studied in Florence and Rome.[5] His older sister Anna Randolph (1976–1905), committed suicide in Rome on December 27, 1905, two months after Lee had moved to Rome.[6] In 1913, Randolph returned to California.[5]
Career
editRandolph was a figurative oil painter, known for his landscape and portraits; and a printmaker, known for his etchings.[7] He was a member of the Bohemian Club, and the California Society of Etchers (now California Society of Printmakers).[5] He was also affiliated with the Foundation for Western Art, and participated in their group exhibitions in the 1940s.[8]
In 1915, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) during the winter semester.[5] He won a bronze medal for painting at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, held in San Francisco.[5]
Randolph served as the director of California School of Fine Arts (or CSFA, now San Francisco Art Institute) from 1917 to 1941.[4][9][10] He took a CSFA sabbatical from 1941 to 1942.[11] In 1925, he joined the summer faculty of Brigham Young University's Big Alpine Summer School in the Mount Timpanogos–area of Utah.[7]
The Randolph family moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in the 1940s, where he continued to teach visual art and was a member of the Carmel Art Association.[5]
Death and legacy
editRandolph died on September 3, 1956, in Salinas, California.[2] His memorial service was held at Little Chapel by the Sea in Pacific Grove, California, and he was survived by his wife Hilda.[2]
His work is included in museum collections, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C..[12] He previously had his work in the collection at Musée du Luxembourg in Paris (in the 1920s).[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Hunt, Rockwell Dennis (1926). California and Californians. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 386–387 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c "Obituary for Lee F. Randolph". Oakland Tribune. 1956-09-06. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Randolph, Lee Fritz". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00148778. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
- ^ a b "Three to Be Added to Arts Faculty". Oakland Tribune. 1932-08-15. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hughes, Edan Milton (2002). Artists in California, 1786–1940: L-Z. Crocker Art Museum. p. 912. ISBN 978-1-884038-08-2 – via Google Books.
- ^ "American Kills Herself In Rome; Miss Anna Randolph Commits Suicide By Jumping From Window". New-York Tribune. December 28, 1905.
- ^ a b "Aspen Grove to be Summer Art Center". The Springville Herald. 1925-04-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Giving of Art Awards Said Futile, Reviewer Visits Exhibit of Prize Works at Foundation, Raps System". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1940-06-22. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gerdts, William H. (1990). Art Across America: The Far Midwest, the Rocky Mountain West, the Southwest, the Pacific. Abbeville Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-1-55859-033-5.
- ^ "Art School Director on KYA Today". The San Francisco Examiner. 1941-02-13. p. 30. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "California School Issues Annual Booklet". Oakland Tribune. 1941-07-20. p. 21. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lee F. Randolph". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2024-04-10.