Worth Ryder


Worth Allen Ryder was an American artist, curator, and art professor.

Life

Ryder arrived in Berkeley as a young child and graduated from Berkeley High School in 1903. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, at the Art Students League, New York, from 1906 to 1908 and then at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and the University of Munich. In 1911 he returned to California, where he taught at the California School of Arts and Crafts until 1918. He also served as curator of the Oakland Art Gallery from 1916 to 1918.
From 1921 to 1927 Ryder continued his art studies in Germany, France, and Italy. One of his teachers was Hans Hofmann. Ryder then taught art at the University of California, Berkeley from January 1927 until his retirement in 1955. He was instrumental in bringing Hans Hofmann to the United States, where Hofmann had his first solo show at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and taught in the 1930 and 1931 summer sessions at Berkeley.
Among Ryder's pupils was the sculptor Dorothy Rieber Joralemon.

Legacy

The Worth Ryder Art Gallery at the University of California, Berkeley, is named for him. Hans Hofmann donated one of his own paintings to the University in memory of his friend and former student, and in 1963 Hofmann gave the university a major collection of his work and seed money toward creation of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.