'Fremantle Harbor, Perth' by Byron Randall, 1947, Western Australia, Post Impressionist, San Francisco Art Association, Museum of Modern Art

Description

Signed lower left, 'Byron' for Byron Randall (American, 1918-1999), dated 1947 and titled, 'Aus'.

A dramatic, Post-Impressionist view of the … more Signed lower left, 'Byron' for Byron Randall (American, 1918-1999), dated 1947 and titled, 'Aus'.

A dramatic, Post-Impressionist view of the Western Australian port of Fremantle with the old row-houses of the Esplanade visible in the distance. Painted during the artist's travels as a merchant mariner in the 1940's.

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Byron Randall began painting in Salem, Oregon, during the 1930s. He created artworks while working as cook, waiter, boxer, harvest hand, and a variety of other odd jobs. In 1942, he moved to San Francisco and, while shipping out with the Merchant Marine, continued to study painting. From 1955-57, he was in Montreal where he painted a mural for the Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association. In 1959, he opened an art gallery in Mendocino, CA with his wife, Emmy Lou Packard. Over the course of a long career, Byron Randall exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. He is listed in Edan Hughes, 'Artists in California' and his work is held in the Montreal Museum of Art.

Exhibitions:
Oregon State Fair, 1930 (1st prize); MOMA, 1939; Salem Federal Art Center, 1939 (solo); Seattle Museum, 1940 (solo); Reed College, 1941 (solo); Raymond & Raymond (SF), 1943 (solo); American Contemporary Gallery (LA), 1946; San Francisco Art Association, 1946-51; Chabot Gallery (LA), 1952 (solo).

Bibliography:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940" Interview with the artist; Who's Who in American Art 1940-62; SF Chronicle, 8-19-1999. less