MAXINE ALBRO (1903-1966)

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARTIST'S WORK

Throughout her career, Maxine Albro produced frescos, mosaics, oil paintings, and lithographs. Yet, she is most recognized for her frescos and her characteristic treatment of Mexican and Spanish subject matter in her work. Her style can be characterized as having simplistic and stoutly figures which is clearly an influence of Diego Rivera’s work. In fact, Albro was exposed to Diego Rivera’s work in Mexico and in California as she painted murals with him in San Francisco in the early 1930s. Although she recalls speaking to Diego Rivera for only a short time, she remembers that his assistant, Paul O’Higgins was a great help to her. For instance, he took Albro into his studio where he demonstrated the process of fresco painting. When Albro later returned to the United States, she was well experienced in fresco painting and was offered large commissions.

In 1933, Albro was contacted by the Federal Works of Art Project and was offered her first major commission under a New Deal program at Coit Tower in San Francisco. She was also one of the first people to be hired since her skills in fresco painting proved to be exquisite and suitable for the project. At Coit Tower, she executed a fresco titled, California Agriculture (10ft x 42ft), which depicted farm workers gathering oranges as well as flowers. In addition, the figures in this mural are rendered in a short and thick manner, similarly to Rivera’s style. Furthermore, the subject matter in this mural emphasizes a social realist view by depicting a scene that shows the struggles of farm worker’s during the Great Depression. Nevertheless, Albro was different from other social realist artists, as one art historian noted, “Albro’s pastoral handling of subject matter made her stand out from other social realist painting at that time” (Cummings Belle and Loach 104). The strong influence of Mexican art on her ultimately distinguished her from other American painters that worked within the same genre.

In addition to being contracted to paint frescos, Maxine Albro was also contracted by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to execute a mosaic for the entrance of the Hall of Natural Science at the San Francisco State College. Because mosaic was a medium that Albro was not familiar with, the WPA contracted an Italian mosaic setter to instruct Albro and other artists working on the project. He taught them how to cut Italian marble into pieces. Although the design for this project was a simple floral design with animals and not related to Mexican motifs, Albro fondly recalls the project, as she stated, “It was really, I think, one of the most fascinating things I ever did. Learning how to do the mosaic and then getting the pattern all made in marble and then later helping to put it up” (“Oral History Interview with Maxine Albro and Parker Hall”). The mosaic project took the whole winter of 1937 to be completed.

However, not all of Albro’s work was accepted and highly respected. For instance, in 1935, Albro executed a private commission for the Ebbell Women’s Club in Los Angeles which was considered controversial. Albro depicted four nude Roman sybils in the mural which the women of the club found offensive. Due to the conservative nature of the Los Angeles art scene at the time, the nudity of the sybils were considered obscene. In fact, the controversy surrounding the Roman sybils, consequently led to the destruction of the mural.

Throughout her career, Albro also produced several lithographs, a technique that she learned while studying in New York. Her lithographs consisted of Indian subject matter, an influence from her many travels to Mexico. Similarly, her oil paintings such as Skipping (1940), which portrays a girl with pigtails playing with her jump rope, is an example of her extensive representation of Mexican subjects in her work.

AWARDS & ASSOCIATIONS

Carmel Art Association
California Art Club
California Society of Mural Artists
American Artists Congress
San Francisco Art Association

COLLECTIONS

Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park
Biltmore Hotel, Santa Barbara, CA
Coit Tower, San Francisco, CA
De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Hofsas House, Carmel, CA
Mills College, CA
San Francisco State Teachers College, CA
Santa Catalina School, Monterey, CA
University of Arizona Museum of Art, AZ
Vallejo High School, CA

CHRONOLOGY

1903 Born on January 20, in Iowa
1920 Graduates from high school
1923-25 Studies at the California School of Fine Arts, CA
1925 Exhibits at the San Francisco Art Association, CA
1926 Studies at Art Student League, NY
1927 Studies at the École de la Grand Chaumière in Paris, France
1931 Exhibits at Delphic Studios, NY
1932 Paints mural at Vallejo high school
1933-34 Paints fresco at Coit Tower under FWAP
1935 Paints mural at the Ebbell Women’s Club
1938 Marries Parker Hall
1940s Travels to Mexico
1966 Dies on July 19 in Los Angeles, CA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Albright, T. (1985). Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1980: an illustrated history. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
2. AskArt.com
3. Heller, J., & Heller, N.G. (Eds.) (1995). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland.
4. Hughes, E.M. (1989). Artist’s in California, 1786-1940. San Francisco, CA: Hughes Publishing Company.
5. Moore, S. (Ed.). (1989). California Women Artists. New York, NY: Midmarch Arts Press.
6. “Oral history interview with Maxine Albro and Parker Hall.” (1964). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
7. Rubinstein, C.S. (1982). American Women Artists from early times to the present. New York, NY: G.K. Hall.