Richard Ayer Sites

Richard Ayer create two artworks on the third floor of the visitors center (former Aquatic Park bathhouse) at the Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California.  One is a bas relief "Nautical Abstractions" is composed of paint on plaster with embedded rope and piping.  The other is a mural, "Tugboats". Both pieces were completed in 1939 with the help of Federal Art Project (FAP) funds.

Hilaire Hiler created the massive 10' x 100' mural entitled "Lost Continents of Atlantis and Mu" that covers all four walls of the main entrance hall at the visitors center of the National Maritime Historical Park.  It is a fantastic representation of sea life that captures the imagination of visitors to this day. The method of painting was  "wax-emulsion variation of the Gambier-Parry spirit fresco process."   To save time Hiler began the work on canvas and carried it as far as possible before installation on the lobby walls.  Hiler was assisted by artists Lawrence Holmberg, Richard Ayer and Thomas Dowley. The...

The oil-on-plaster "Prismatarium" mural at the National Maritime Historical Park visitors center was designed by Hilaire Hiler to give "striking demonstrations on the relationship of color and light." It represents Hiler's fascination with color and his idea that he had found the perfect color palette. It covers the walls and ceiling of a circular room on the west side of the building. Originally, the light fixture revolved. Several other artists worked under Hiler on this mural, which was completed in 1939 and paid for by Federal Art Project (FAP) funds.  This and other murals in the building have been restored by the National...

“A notable artistic feature of the Main Post Chapel is a large fresco painted in 1935 by Victor Arnautoff and his assistants. With St. Francis at its center, the mural depicts a historical pageant related to the founding of the Presidio and the peacetime activities of the Army. Recognized as a leading artist of the period, Arnautoff painted the murals at Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill and in Washington High School, and taught graphic arts at Stanford. "Victor Mikhail Arnautoff was born in the Ukraine in 1896. He served as Cavalry officer in Czar Nicholas II’s army, received the Cross of...