Rip Matteson

Rip Matteson devoted his life to the world of art as a painter, teacher, cartoonist, and advocate for the arts. His formal studies included San Jose State University, the University of California, Berkeley, the California College of Arts and Crafts, the Scuola di Belle Arti in Rome, and the Parsons School of Design in New York. He also played an important role in art education, beginning his teaching career  at Blackburn College in Illinois.   Upon moving to the Monterey Peninsula, he was an integral part of establishing the art department at Monterey Peninsula College and later strengthening the program at Laney College in Oakland.

Throughout his career, Matteson received numerous honors, including the Phelan Award for Achievement in Art and the Crocker Purchase Award, as well as recognition from the Carmel Arts Festival. He was also awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Blackburn College for his contribution to the foundation of its art department. A member of the Carmel Art Association since 1949, he served on its Board and as President during the early 1960s.

Matteson’s creative work extended beyond painting to include illustration and cartooning.   His cartoons appeared regularly in The New Yorker, Playboy and Punch.  In his painting, he often reflected his deep appreciation for poetry and literature, and he frequently inscribed verses by poets such as Robert Browning, William Butler Yeats, and Ralph Waldo Emerson on the backs of his canvases.

In his own words, “Beauty, the search for it and its sharing is the calling of the artist.”  For Rip Matteson, that calling was expressed through a lifelong dedication to art, education, and the sharing of truth and beauty.