Hilaire Hiler

Indian with Bow in Fox Costume, 1930s Modernist Print by Hilaire Hiler

1934

Hilaire Hiler was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on July 16. 1898 and was raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He was an American artist, psychologist and color theoretician who worked in Europe and the United States during the mid-20th century. Hiler took art classes as a child at the Rhode Island School of Design. When he was older, Hiler studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce and William Server's studio. He also studied at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Denver, Golden State University and National College in Ontario, Canada. He continued to France, studying at the University of Paris in 1919. Hiler lived in Paris from 1919–34, supporting himself as a jazz musician and a piano player for The Jockey Club. Hiler moved back to America in 1934, settling in San Francisco. He was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration to paint murals in the Aquatic Park BathHouse, which is now the National Maritime Museum. In the 1940s, he founded Fremont College in Los Angeles. In 1944, he moved the college to Santa Fe which is now named Hiler College. He has exhibited widely across different countries. His works are held in Musee du Luxembourg, Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Museum of New Mexico, Veteran's Memorial Museum in San Francisco, Museum of Living Art in New York. Hiler died on January 19, 1966, in Neuilly-sur-Seine.