Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design or Rudolph Schaeffer School of Rhythmo-Chromatic Design (1924 – 1984) was an art school located in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, best known for its courses in color and interior design. The school was founded by artist Rudolph Schaeffer.

History

The school founder, Rudolph Frederick Schaeffer had studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(1914 to 1915) through the United States Commission of Education, learn about the study of color, design, and craft and how it was being taught in public, industrial, and trade schools. He also studied

color theory Color theory, or more specifically traditional color theory, is a historical body of knowledge describing the behavior of colors, namely in color mixing, color contrast effects, color harmony, color schemes and color symbolism. Modern color th ...

under Ralph Johonnot. The Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design was an art school founded in 1924 in

, California. Originally named the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Rhythmo-Chromatic Design, located at 136 St. Anne Street*
Inside

JPEG JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...

with large front windows looking out on Saint Mary's Square and

Beniamino Bufano Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work which often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple sha ...

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei ...

statue, in the

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

neighborhood of San Francisco. Other artists had studios in the Anne Street building, including Bertha Lum and Frances Revett Wallace.

"St. Mary's Square sloped down from Sun Yat Sen and the poplar trees, a beautiful sloping park where the Chinese women and mothers used to bring their children and spread a blanket and have their lunch and sit there in the sun; our students used to go out and sit in the park and enjoy that park. Then the city came along and condemned the whole street, this little St. Anne Street running at the base of the park, and a parking lot for the Stauffer Chemical Company on the other side, and a small hotel at either end of St. Anne Street running from California to Pine."

In 1928, the school was at 127 Grant Avenue, near

Union Square, San Francisco Union Square is a public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post, and Stockton Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district surrounding the plaza for several b ...

. In the 1950s, in order to educate the public and students about Asian culture, Schaeffer invited Dr.

Haridas Chaudhuri Haridas Chaudhuri (May 1913 – 1975) was an Indian integral philosopher. He was a correspondent with Sri Aurobindo and the founder of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Early life and career He was born in May 1913 in Shyam ...

, founder of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) to give public lectures at his East-West Arts Gallery. By 1960 the school moved to

Potrero Hill Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is known for being one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city and having view of the skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bay. A working-class neighborhood unt ...

at 2255 Mariposa Street. In 1984, the school closed after financial issues and disagreements in terms of direction of the school between Schaeffer and the Board of Trustees.

Notable students

A list of notable alumni from Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, in alphabetical order by last name. *

Dorr Bothwell Dorr Hodgson Bothwell (May 3, 1902 – September 24, 2000) was an American artist, designer, educator, and world-traveler. A varied artist, Bothwell was considered a part of the Bay Area Surrealist artist scene and has paintings, drawings, coll ...

(1902–2002), artist, designer and author of "'' Notan – on the Interaction of Positive and Negative Spaces"'' * Ernest Briggs (1923–1984), abstract expressionist painter, and professor at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

from 1961 to 1984 * Henry Doane (1905–1999), landscape painter and commercial artist *

Manny Farber Emanuel Farber (February 20, 1917 – August 18, 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic",Grimes, William (August 19, 2008) ''New York Times''Kiderra, Inga (August 21, 2008Obituary: Artist and Crit ...

(1917–2008), painter and writer *

Edward McNeil Farmer Edward McNeil Farmer (1901–1969) was an American artist, designer, and professor. Best known for his watercolors and oil paintings of landscapes and flower studies. He taught at the Graphic Arts Department at Stanford University from 1923 until 1 ...

(1901–1969), painter and former professor at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. * George Gaethke (1898–1982), WPA-era artist, painter, printmaker *

Dorothy Rieber Joralemon Dorothy Rieber Joralemon (March 19, 1893 – March 22, 1987) was an American abstract sculptor, children's portrait artist and writer based in Northern California. Early life and education Born in San Francisco as Dorothy Rieber, she was the d ...

(1893–1987), sculptor *

Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, also known as Dorothy Puccinelli Cravath (December 19, 1901 – May 24, 1974), was a New Deal-era artist and muralist. She was based in San Francisco, California. Biography Born as Dorothy Wagner on December 19, 190 ...

(1901–1974), WPA-era artist and muralist, enrolled in 1925 With * Raymond Puccinelli (1904–1986), sculptor, former professor of sculpture *

Hazel Salmi Hazel Gowan Salmi (November 11, 1893 – April 22, 1986) was an American visual artist, educator, and arts administrator. She was a painter, as well as the founder and director of the Richmond Art Center. She lived in Point Richmond, California ...

(1893–1986), painter, arts administrator *

Lanette Scheeline Lanette Harriet Scheeline (September 15, 1910 - June 8, 2001) was an American artist and textile designer. Her work focused on wallpaper, textile and block printing. Early life and education Lanette Scheeline was born in San Francisco, Califor ...

(1910–2001) artist and textile designer * Geraldine Knight Scott (1904–1989), landscape architect * Michael Taylor (1927–1986), interior designer *

Louise Dahl-Wolfe Louise Emma Augusta Dahl-Wolfe (November 19, 1895 – December 11, 1989) was an American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for ''Harper's Bazaar'', in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland. At Harper's Bazaar she pioneere ...

(1895–1989), photographer - from Schaeffer's teachings at

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, 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 Mis ...

References

External links

The Rudolph Schaeffer Papers 1880–1994
from the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

, Smithsonian Institution {{authority control 1924 establishments in California 1984 disestablishments in California Art schools in California Art in the San Francisco Bay Area Chinatown, San Francisco Defunct private universities and colleges in California Design schools in the United States Potrero Hill, San Francisco Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design Universities and colleges in San Francisco