Ron Partridge
Bedford Gallery Exhibition, 2010
Photo Credit: Susan Ives
Ron Partridge was still working in his Berkeley, California, dark room well into his 90s. This brought his life full circle. Ron began his career in the darkroom, assisting his mother, photographer Imogen Cunningham. Ron went on to assist both Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange during the 1930s. Lange’s influence can be seen in Ron’s photographs for the National Youth Administration (NYA), a job that sent him throughout California chronicling the lives of young people on the brink of World War II.
Over the course of his long career as a photographer and filmmaker, Ron’s work embraced landscapes, people, objects, and architecture.
Dorothea Lange, 1936
Photo of Dorothea Lange at work
Photo Credit: Rondal Partridge
In 2010, I co-curated an exhibit of New Deal art at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. I made a point of inviting the few living New Deal artists that I knew of. It was a short list: Photographer Rondal Partridge, sculptor Milton Hebald, and WPA and Disney artist Tyrus Wong, (now 104 years old!)
Ron and I drove to the opening reception in my classic Plymouth Valiant. He clearly appreciated the attention that he and his work received that night. I continued to visit Ron after that exhibition. He was always excited about his latest project. In recent years he focused on framing dried plants—preserving the unique quality of each specimen. They were studies in form, some in partial states of decay. He relished the second-hand frames he collected for this work.
Ron Partridge and Harvey Smith
New Deal art exhibition, Bedford Gallery, 2010
Photo Credit: Susan Ives
Anyone who knew Ron knew that he had strong views, a sense of irreverence, and a wonderful sense of humor. Like others I’ve met who worked for the New Deal, Ron was infused with the spirit of that time—a social conscience, ingenuity, and a drive to create—seemingly indifferent to fame and fortune. Ron passed away on June 19. He and his New Deal generation will be missed.
I enjoyed your tribute to Ron Partridge very much. It occurred to me that you may have some information I’v been looking for, for a brief article on the West Portal Library as a New Deal project (aimed at the West Portal Monthly paper). Do you know who painted the ‘delicate, graceful” designs on the ceiling beams of the library? I know the architect was Frederick H.Meyer but would love to know the painter.
Thank you for any help you can provide! I attended the CA historical society launch for the SF New Deal guide and was so impressed with the project and the publication.