Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Richard Ayer

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.ayer64
Creators:
Ayer, Richard Gentry, 1909-1967
McChesney, Mary Fuller
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
Dates:
1964 September 26
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
20 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Richard Ayer conducted 1964 September 26, by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Scope and Contents
Ayer speaks of his "haphazard" education, including study with Hilaire Hiler; his work assisting Victor Mikhail Arnautoff on frescos in the Presidio Chapel; the WPA easel painting project in San Francisco; and the Aquatic Park Building mural program, 1934. He recalls some of the artists associated with the Aquatic Park project. He also discusses the Ostwald and Hiler color theories and Herman Volz's mural for the Treasure Island Federal Building.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Richard Ayer (1909-1967) was a mural painter from San Francisco, California.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript available on line.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 52 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Federal aid to the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mural painting and decoration -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arnautoff, Victor Mikhail, 1896-1979 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hiler, Hilaire, 1898-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Volz, Herman, 1904-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal Art Project (Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
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