San Gabriel County, by Ray Strong, 1938 (cropped)

Ray Stanford Strong (January 3, 1905 – July 3, 2006) was an American painter from

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

. He associated with the New Deal muralists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Early life and education

Ray Strong was born in Corvallis,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, the youngest of three brothers. Though trained in law, his father ran the family

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

. Because of illness Ray was home schooled for two years, during which time he became intrigued by painting and drawing. Strong was educated at the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

(now known as San Francisco Art Institute) in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. He later founded the San Francisco Art Students League (a cooperative space featuring an art gallery, art classes, and art supply store) and participated in the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

during the 1930s. He wanted to travel to Spain to fight in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

but was persuaded by his friend

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...

to remain in the United States and paint.

Works

Strong's 1934 painting, ''Golden Gate Bridge'', was chosen by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

to hang in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, celebrating the feat of engineering. Strong's artwork includes the oil on canvas mural titled ''San Gabriel County'' in the

San Gabriel, California San Gabriel (Spanish for " St. Gabriel") is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the population was 39,718. San Gabriel was founded by the Spanish in 1771, when Mission San Gabriel Arc ...

post office, commissioned by the

Treasury Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

, and completed in 1938. In 1953, Strong served as the President of the Marin Society of Arts. Strong worked as a teacher and lecturer in Oregon. He moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

in 1960. His paintings usually depicted the California landscape. He had a commitment to the environment and was part of the Oak Group which opposed the encroachment of the oil industry onto the local landscape. Several of his paintings are in the permanent collection of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. His painting ''Indian Summer II'' is in the collection of the

Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cali ...

100th Birthday

To mark his 100th birthday a tribute was made to Ray Strong in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Lois Capps Lois Ragnhild Capps (née Grimsrud; January 10, 1938) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1998 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 22nd District from 1998 to 2003 ...

, describing him as "a talented artist, generous teacher and role model to many." Strong continued to paint in his studio, close to the entrance to

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...

, until shortly before he died, age 101 on July 3, 2006.

References

External links

Artist Ray Strong - An Enduring Vision of the Oregon Landscape by Mark Humpal
''Oregon Historical Quarterly'' (The History Cooperative), 109.1., Spring 2008
Jayne McKay blog site profiling Ray Strong, with excerpts from the documentary, MAYNARD DIXON ART AND SPIRIT 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Ray 1905 births 2006 deaths American landscape painters Public Works of Art Project artists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists People from Corvallis, Oregon Painters from Oregon Painters from California 20th-century American painters American male painters American muralists 20th-century American male artists