Ralph Chessé

Children at Play (c. 1933), fresco mural by Chessé at Coit Tower in San Francisco

Ralph A. Chessé (January 6, 1900 – March 17, 1991) was an American multidisciplinary visual artist and performer. He was Louisiana Creole, and known as a puppeteer and painter; he also worked as a stage actor, stage manager, makeup artist, muralist, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the Coit Tower muralists in the 1930s, and worked for many years as a marionette theater owner and director.

Early life, family, and education Ralph Alexander Chessé was born on January 6, 1900, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Marie Henriette (née Ticoulet) and Alexander Laurent Chessé, and both were Louisiana Creole people. As a teenager he became interested in painting.

Career In 1919, Chessé moved back to New Orleans to work as an actor, makeup artist, and assistant stage manager at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre.

In 1923, Chessé moved to Hollywood with a goal of working in the motion picture industry, and he remained for one year as he worked at United Artists as a timekeeper. In 1924, he moved to San Francisco and was introduced to marionette theatre, and furthered his understanding of puppetry with artist James Blanding Sloan. In 1931, he opened the a new marionette theater at 718 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. He continued performing marionette theater performances throughout the 1970s. This fresco was a Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), another New Deal program. the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City; and the Portland Art Museum in Oregon.

He has had multiple posthumous exhibitions, including at the Georgia Museum of Art (2015) in Athens, Georgia curated by Laura Valeri.

Group exhibitions

California Garden and Home Exposition (1968), Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California Constructing Identity (2017), group exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon Black Artists of Oregon (2023–2024), group exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon

Publications