Victor Royer

1936 - 2016

Victor Albert Royer

Sept. 23, 1936 – March 30, 2016

Noted Bay Area sculptor Victor Royer, a resident of Oakland, died on March 30, after a short illness. He was 79. Born in Fountain Spring, Pennsylvania, he later moved to Florida, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Florida in 1958. After graduation, he served three years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy in the Caribbean and Far East.
Following his military service, Royer entered a Master's program at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a University Fellowship in 1964. He completed his M.F.A. degree in sculpture in 1965. While a graduate student, his sculpture was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, France, as part of the American entry to the "Biennale de Paris 1963." Among other special honors, Royer was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Florence, Italy from 1965 – 1966.
After returning to California, the artist taught sculpture in the Art Department at U.C. Berkeley between 1966 and 1976, except for a brief emigration as a lecturer in sculpture at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, Australia. He later worked full-time producing sculpture in his Berkeley, El Sobrante and Oakland studios. Over the years, his work was shown widely in the San Francisco Bay Area in Los Angeles, Illinois, New York and Australia, including six one-man shows. His sculptures are found in collections in Melbourne, Australia; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Oakland Museum, and with various corporations and private collections in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Royer is known primarily for his kinetic sculpture, with forms designed to move in graceful "orbit" on anti-friction bearings. His large kinetic piece, 'Sun Machine V,' was described in 1970 by Chronicle reviewer Alfred Frankenstein as "one of the most remarkable pieces of sculpture ever created in the Bay Region." The art critic termed him "one of the leading sculptors of this area." His pieces are made of brass – sometimes nickel-plated – tooled and polished to perfection. Some contain discs or semi-discs of transparent Plexiglas."
Another Chronicle art critic Thomas Albright described Royer's static pieces as "totems or fetishes, updated to the machine age… When they clearly refer to the human body, they are never depersonalized or robot-like, but with a sense of enduring, heroic impregnability."
The artist also illustrated 20 books, many of a technical nature. An accomplished pianist who studied over 10 years with Berkeley instructor Elizabeth Swarthout, he enjoyed playing Mozart on the five-octave fortepiano he built for his own use. Royer also constructed an 8-inch, reflecting telescope to enjoy night skies from his El Sobrante home and later from his Ford Street Studio in Oakland.
Victor Royer is survived by his sweetheart, Anna, and his son, Vic Royer Jr., of Seattle. According to his wishes, there will be no funeral. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.