Otis Oldfield

The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with California College of the Arts and San Francisco Art Institute. Work by Otis Oldfield is recorded in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Name — Otis William Oldfield • Born — 3 July 1890 • Birthplace — Sacramento, California, U.S. • Died — 18 May 1969 • Place of death — San Francisco, California, U.S. • Education — Best’s Art School, Académie Julian • Occupation — painter, muralist, printmaker, educator • Spouse — Helen Clark (m. 1926–1969; death) • Illustration — "Man with Dog", 1923 self-portrait by Otis Oldfield

Otis William Oldfield was born on July 3, 1890, in Sacramento, California. He attended Sutter High School but at age 16 he dropped out of school in order to work. In 1908, he attended Best’s Art School in San Francisco, operated by Alice Leveque Best and Arthur William Best. In 1911, he moved to Paris to attend Académie Julian. He remained in France until 1924, then moved back to San Francisco.

• Illustration — Bay Area Map (1934), one of Oldfield's frescos at Coit Tower In 1925, Oldfield had a successful solo show at San Francisco’s Galerie Beaux Arts, an exhibit of work made while he was living in France. In 1929, Oldfield had two exhibitions of San Francisco water scenes at Montross Gallery in New York City. The following year in 1930, Oldfield worked with architect Timothy Pflueger to create painted windows for the bar at the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. In 1934, he was one of 26 artists selected to paint murals in the newly erected Coit Tower. One of his frescos there is titled Shipping Activities Inside the Golden Gate.