Vintage Ev9d9

Winifred Heron was born on June 9, 1922, in the small alpine town of Merano, Italy, where her father was consulting as a mining engineer. Her family lived there till she was five years old, then returned to the United States, and settled in Farmville, Virginia. She attended Longwood College (now Longwood University) in Virginia, was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and developed her talent in the fine arts, painting and drawing, receiving her BA in 1943. During World War II, she joined the Navy as a WAVE, serving as an officer in communications in Washington, D.C. Through family friends, she met her lifelong companion David Heron, and they got married on August 24, 1946. Along with raising three children, Winifred continued to develop her art. She was also active in volunteer organizations, League of Women Voters, voter registration drives and the local art scene. David's professional life as a University librarian took the family to Japan and Okinawa, where Winifred studied oriental art and flower arrangement. She was an accomplished printmaker and was active in the Santa Cruz arts community, including volunteering at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and participating in Open Studios at her home in Aptos. Winifred Heron died peacefully on August 23, 2015, in Aptos. She was 93.

Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.

Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.

During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.

Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.

Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.

The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.