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John Grillo
Rare Op Art Mid Century Modern Geometric Abstraction 1969 silkscreen Signed 6/9

1969

About the Item

John Grillo Untitled Op Art Mid Century Modern, 1969 Color silkscreen on art paper with deckled edges Signed and dated lower right; numbered 6/9 lower left Limited Edition of only 9 Unframed Accompanied by Certificate of Guarantee issued by Alpha 137 Gallery The present work is a dazzling, extremely rare 1960s screenprint by Abstract Expressionist painter John Grillo, who died in 2014 at the age of 97. Hand signed and numbered from a small edition of only 9, it is a fusion of Op Art, Pop and Abstract Expressionist elements, in a vibrant palette anchored in red - a nod to the psychedelic colors of the late 1960s. It is in very good condition with deckled edges John Grillo Biography A leading exponent of Bay Area Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s, John Grillo was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker regarded as one the purest and most influential “action painters” on the West Coast. Though his diverse and colorful body of work ranged from abstraction to figuration, his art is considered linked in its uniquely aggressive and spontaneous approach. Grillo creates bold, fluid, gestural works such as Untitled #69 (1947) and Untitled (1949) that draw on the influence of Surrealist automatism. After moving to New York in 1948, Grillo began a series of paintings consisting of small, precisely organized colored squares, as seen in Untitled (1951) and Untitled (1959); these and other works were influenced by the color theories of Hans Hofmann, with whom he studied. Grillo’s later work was more figurative, but no less colorful, with works such as Blue Hat (1978) or Duerme (1980) recalling the Expressionism of Max Beckmann. More about John Grillo John Grillo 1917 -2014 (Photo by Charles Fields) painter, printmaker, sculptor and teacher, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1917. After receiving his diploma from the Hartford School of Fine Arts in 1938, Grillo continued his education at the California School of Fine Arts (1946-47), later studying with Hans Hoffman in New York and Provincetown. He taught at various schools, including Southern Illinois University, University of California at Berkeley, New School for Social Research, Iowa University, and Pratt Institute, before accepting the position of Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His honors have included a Ford Foundation Grant for Work in Lithography followed by a Ford Foundation Appointment as Artist in Residence at the Butler Institute and two research grants from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Grillo has exhibited extensively and is well represented in numerous museum and corporate collections. John Grillo is regarded as one of the early architects of the Expressionist Movement. Grillo is collected by many museums around the world.
  • Creator:
    John Grillo (1917, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1969
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 27.75 in (70.49 cm)Width: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745215603802

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