Raymond Steth, born Raymond Ryles, was a Philadelphia-based graphic artist recognized for his paintings and lithographs on the African-American condition in the mid-20th century, often through scenes of rural life and poverty.
12 Facts About Raymond Steth
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Raymond Steth was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1917 to Lulu Mann and Charles Ryles, a working-class farming family.
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Raymond Steth spent much of his childhood on a large farm in North Carolina, which would later influence his artwork.
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Raymond Steth subsequently worked in sign painting and vaudeville theater.
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Raymond Steth was educated at the Philadelphia College of Art from 1941 until 1943, and the Barnes Foundation from 1942 to 1944.
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Raymond Steth was associated with the American Scene movement, which included WPA artists concerned with contemporary social topics.
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Raymond Steth began working in the graphics division of the WPA-sponsored Federal Art Project in Philadelphia starting in 1938, where he met and collaborated with Dox Thrash, known for developing new methods of Carborundum printmaking, who believed Raymond Steth's work could be transferred to a print medium.
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Raymond Steth worked alongside Michael J Gallagher, John Turner, and Claude Clark, a group with whom he would often exhibit his work with.
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Raymond Steth associated with the artists, Hubert Mesibov and Samuel Brown.
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Raymond Steth was later a resident at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
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Raymond Steth's work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
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Raymond Steth's work was included in the 2015 exhibition We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s at the Woodmere Art Museum.