1907-1976

Theme/Style – California Modernism, WPA

Media – Oils, murals, furniture design, book illustration, graphic arts, printmaking

Artistic Focus – Born in Spokane, Washington, Harold Mallette Dean moved to San Francisco in 1927 and enrolled in the California School of Fine Arts where he was influenced by Ray Boynton. Dean received an Anne Bremer Scholarship and remained enrolled at CSFA for nearly four years. He was one of the most prolific painters of government-sponsored murals in Northern California.

Career Highlights –

• Dean was among the 26 artists selected by the Public Works of Art Project to create the famed Coit Tower murals and one bas relief. His mural, which depicts iconic figures of a stockbroker and a scientist-inventor, was notable for its careful representation of such figures in society.
• Throughout his career, Dean created numerous murals, including the United States Post Office in Sebastopol, California, the San Francisco Museum of Art and the New York Public Library.
• Interested in numerous art forms, Dean created wood engravings and wood cuts for Grabhorn Books and produced labels for several winemaking companies in California.
• Before retiring in San Rafael, California, he taught printmaking at Marin Junior College, and at his alma mater, the California School of Fine Arts.

Additional biographical material and full bibliographic references are available upon request.

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