Art History

Fresco Mural at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI)

Fresco Mural at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI)

The year was 1926 when Californian fresco painter and faculty member of the San Francisco Art Institute, Roy Boynton travelled to Mexico City to study under the world renowned Diego Rivera. Boynton returned to San Francisco with a number of Rivera’s paintings, and urged art patron, Albert Bender to commission Rivera to paint a fresco mural at the San Francisco Art Institute. Bender was nicknamed Albert “Medici” Bender and acted upon Boynton’s suggestion.