An American master, obscured by the shadows of the past, content to linger in the periphery of giants, at long last comes to light.
Born
October 23, 1918
Tacoma, WA
dIED
August 11, 1999
San Francisco, CA
Byron Randall led an extraordinary life. From his early years in Salem, Oregon, to his years settling down in a chicken coop in Tomales, California, he led a life as colorful and vibrant as his paintings. Byron traveled the world and it drastically shaped his art and his view of the world itself. At once sharp and blazing in your face the injustices of capitalism, fascism, sexism, the crimes against indigenous peoples.. yet in the next breath pulling you deeper into the beauty of the imaginal realm. Byron’s art is multifaceted, enigmatic. While he is unafraid to show the pains of this world, he is dually emboldened to showcase its beauty, with humor and whimsy, never crossing that thinnest of lines from the satirical into the cynical.
the man
Born in Tacoma, WA.
Raised in Salem, OR.
1918
Worked as a waiter, cook, booker, harvest hand, and chief cook in the Marion County Jail, painting in spare time.
1936-1938
In these pages we will explore the life, times -and most importantly, art- of Byron Randall. As listed above, we give a brief overview of his life, a fair sampling of his works and where they can be found on display, and -very soon- more in-depth conversations discussing all things Byron with the ‘In The Periphery’ podcast series. This series will cover everything from Byron’s political views, social/political/environmental activism, to the art itself and why his work and name are largely unknown to this day, despite having worked alongside such herculean artists as Emmy Lou Packard, Pablo O’Higgins, Frida Kahlo.. to name a few. This series will go on to serve as the basis for the Byron Randall Project’s next evolutionary leap, a large format art book that will further showcase his works and his story.
But for now, we invite you dear viewer to dive into the imaginative and exhilarating world of Byron Randall. He’s an outlier, a free thinker.. look closely.. in his art, as in his life, the details are in the periphery.
First one-man show at Salem Federal Art Center; One-man show at Whyte Gallery, Washington, DC; Featured in Newsweek Magazine, Oct. 16th 1939.
1939
Marries Canadian sculptor, Helen Nelson, influential in forming his commitment to social activism; Moved to Mexico; First child is born - Gale - Sept. 1940. Continues to develop as a painter, inspired by the vibrant people and landscapes of Mexico.
1940
Retrospective show at Salem Federal Art Center; Byron and Helen in North Beach area of San Francisco.
1941-1942
Joins WWII effort as a Merchant Marine, where he was a member of Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, which had a strong communist element; Works as a ship’s baker and continues to paint, inspired by shipboard scenes and travels to Hawaii, South Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand.
1943-1945
Artist-correspondent for Canadian news agency in Yugoslavia, painting a series on Yugoslavian themes; Travels to Poland, makes a block print series on Jewish survivors and ghetto scenes; in San Francisco, founds the Artist’s Guild, inspired by Mexico’s Taller de Grafica Popular; Exhibits in San Francisco Art Association as a printmaker and a watercolorist; Has two one-man shows in LA’s American Contemporary Gallery; San Francisco’s Museum of Art (SF MOMA) acquires a watercolor for its permanent collection; Sets up home and studio above City Lights bookstore.
1946-1947
Exhibits in group shows at the Art Institute of Chicago; Participates as a watercolorist and as an oil painter in annual shows of the S. F. Art Association; Exhibits at the CA Labor School.
1947-1948
Second child is born -Jonathan - 1948; Illustrates the Communist Manifesto in Pictures, with other artists associated with the California Labor School.
1948
Exhibits in group show at SF MOMA, with Emmy Lou Packard, Robert McChesney, and others; Moves in 1951 with family to Mount Tamalpais in San Francisco’s Bay Area; Paints a mixed-media 1951 and 1952 Mill Valley series.
1949-1954
1956-1958
One-man show at Tree Arts Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York; Mural commissioned and executed by the Young Men and Women’s Hebrew Association, Montreal, Canada; Tragedy strikes when Byron’s wife, Helen, is killed by a car while crossing the street with eight year old Jon. Byron and his children return to San Francisco, moving to Water St., which inspires a series of mixed media paintings.
1959-1968
1969-1970
Marries print-maker and muralist Emmy Lou Packard, setting up a guesthouse and art gallery in Mendocino, California; Byron and Emmy Lou become founding members of Northern California’s chapter of the Peace and Freedom Party, organizing against the Vietnam War; As environmental activists, they are involved in protecting the Mendocino coastline from commercial exploitation; Byron creates major oil series on Mexican themes, barns, chairs, tools, and Abraham Lincoln, completes several multi-media series of still lifes, nudes, anti-war themes, and many wood cut and lino cut series; Byron’s only grandchild is born - Laura - 1963; Byron has major exhibition at Salem Art Museum, in 1960; joint art shows with Emmy Lou Packard in diverse West Coast galleries.
Byron retreats to Hawaii to work on watercolor series; Byron and Emmy Lou divorce upon his return.
1954-1956
Flees to Canada with family due to US anti-communist hysteria; Lives in Toronto and Montreal; In Mexico City, Byron trains with Pablo O’Higgins, and becomes Associate member of Taller Grafica; Develops Mexican series of lino cuts and casein-oil pastels; Paints a mixed-media Canadian series; One-man shows at Three Arts Gallery, Poughkeepsie, and L’Art Francais Art Gallery, Montreal.
1962
1964
“Emmy Lou and I decided today to do a series of prints on the theme of peace. We will use skeletons as the central element, those being eminently suitable to the present human condition… we want to contribute. Must write a letter to President Kennedy urging not to resume nuclear tests. This would continue the spiral that must certainly at some point result in Doomsday for a great part of humanity.”
Show of 30 prints in Moscow. The opening airs on Soviet Television.
1970 - 1980
Byron moves to Tomales, CA where he converts a chicken coop into his studio and establishes a guest house and gallery space; Continues to travel in Hawaii, Mexico, and family home in Elkhorn, Oregon.
1978 - 1979
Byron travels to Scotland, purchasing a flat near his daughter Gale in Inverness, Highlands; Lives in Inverness for over a year, painting a large series of watercolors inspired by the Scottish landscape.
1980 - 1989
Byron marries third wife, Eve Wieland, in 1981; Eve dies of cancer in 1986; Byron continues to paint in oils and watercolors, creating a major series of oils titled Flotsam & Jetsam; Creates an extensive wood and lino cut series of small prints; Byron’s huge collection of manual potato mashers receives international attention.
1989 - 1999
As Byron’s health declined, Byron’s son Jon lived and cared for him in Tomales for the remainder of Byron’s life; Byron continued to produce many paintings during this time.
