Archives of American Art

Oral history interview of Ralph Chessé

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.chess64
Creators:
Chessé, Ralph
McChesney, Mary Fuller
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
Dates:
1964 October 22
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
21 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Ralph Chessé conducted 1964 October 22, by Mary McChesney for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Chessé speaks of his background and early interest in art; experimenting in puppetry; his first involvement with the WPA mural project; working on frescos for Coit Tower; technical aspects of the work; subject matter for frescos and how it was chosen; the importance of the Federal Art Project in that period in art history; political problems with the Federal Art Project; switching to the Federal Theater Project; some of the work he did for the Federal Theater Project; building and operating marionettes; his work in silkscreen; the WPA's value and contribution. He recalls Lucien Labaudt.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Ralph Chessé (1900-1991) was a mural painter and puppeteer, in San Francisco, California.

Administration

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.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This transcript is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 11 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Coit Memorial Tower (San Francisco, Calif.) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal aid to the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mural painting and decoration -- California -- San Francisco Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Labaudt, Lucien, 1880-1943 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal Art Project (Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal Theater 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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