Biography

Raymond Saunders combines visual energy, pointed imagery, and jazzlike rhythm in his work in order to address topics of social, cultural, and autobiographical relevance. Inspired by his own experiences, Saunders delves into issues of childhood, memory, and temporality. His works evoke a range of associations that confront the complexities of our lives while acknowledging our inherent vulnerability and our propensity to change. Using a large bank of images, both invented and appropriated, Saunders blends painting, drawing, collage, and assemblage to create works that are rich with narrative power.

An image-maker since his youth, Saunders thrived in the creative and supportive environment of his childhood. Growing up in Pittsburgh, he received a strong education in the arts and began to develop a mode of visual expression that would fully encompass his experiences and sensibilities. At age 15, his work was shown for the first time in a solo exhibition at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and was met with both critical and public acclaim. Encouraged by his success, Saunders began to take art classes at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. After three years at the school, he was awarded a National Scholastic Scholarship, which enabled him to enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Several years later, he returned to Carnegie Tech, where he completed his B.F.A. in 1960 and promptly moved to the Bay Area to study at the California College of Arts and Crafts. It was here that he began to solidify the style for which he is best known.

In Untitled (Title to Follow 12) (1993) Saunders explores issues of childhood, sex, and religion. This piece prompts viewers to consider the myriad ways in which the ideas and events they encounter as children affect their spiritual, social, and moral development. Words are scrawled in chalk across a dense black background, as if written on a chalkboard. On the top of the right panel, a phrase resembling “Welcome to Sunday Morning Assembly” appears as if etched by a child. The words are truncated—interrupted by a chalk-outlined cross and splashes of white paint. In the center section of the panel Saunders has glued pages from sketchbooks, newspapers, and comic strips. Like the partially erased words written above, the images are torn, suggesting the fragility and vulnerability of children. The newspaper illustrations provide humorous yet pointed lessons about male-female relationships, with phrases like “When a man marries, his troubles begin!” and “Never kiss before breakfast.” Surrounding these collage elements are additional chalked words, advertising the sale of art. Indicative of a child’s hand, yet more mature in style, the cursive writing indicates the progression of years, an interpretation which is underscored by his placement of a door on the left side that also serves as a metaphor for the passage of time.

Typical of Saunders’s work, Untitled (Title to Follow 12) builds visual harmony through the careful manipulation of pictorial elements. Saunders maintains a keen sense of composition, balancing form and texture with bold splashes of color.1 In this work, the artist counteracts the dense imagery on the right panel with the spacious, almost barren, surface on the left. Likewise, the dull black dominating the left side of the work provides a striking contrast to the cacophony of colors that adorns the right. The artist’s use of color seems pure, as if applied directly from the tube to the canvas. Such richness in hue creates a stark contrast to the black background and endows the piece with seductive appeal. Saunders’s work becomes a meditation not only on the complex themes of our lives but also on the inherent beauty of the objects and colors that surround us. —L.W.

1. Philip Linhares, Raymond Saunders: Recent Work, exh. cat.  (Oakland, Calif.: Oakland Museum of Art, 1994), 6.

(SJMA Selections publication, 2004)


Born in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Raymond Saunders received his degrees from the California College of the Arts, Oakland (MFA, 1961) and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh (BFA, 1960). In addition, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia (1953 – 57) and Barnes Foundation, University of Pennsylvania (1953 – 55), as well as spending three years at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh. Saunders has received many awards over the course of his career, including the Schwabcher Frey Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1961); the Ford Foundation Purchase Award (1964); the Prix de Rome (1964 – 66); the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1976); and the National Endowment for the Arts Award (1977, 1984). His works have been included in numerous national and international exhibitions and are held in such public collections as the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Oakland Museum of California; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Saint Louis Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Currently a professor of painting at the California College of the Arts, Oakland, Saunders lives and works in Oakland. (SJMA Collections Committee, 2012)

Active in Oakland, California. (Getty ULAN 2013)

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