Gene Kloss

Keresan Dancers

1962

Indian Friendship Dance Drypoint, 1953 Signed in pencil lower right, (see photo) Edition 200 Published by The Society of American Graphic Artists, New York An impression is in the collection of SAAM, Washington and RISD Museum, Condition: Excellent Very rich impression with burr and selective whiping of the ink for atmospheric nocturnal effect. Image/Plate size: 8 3/16 x 11 15/16 inches Sheet size: 11 1/8 x 17 inches Reference: Kloss 450 "'Indian Friendship Dance' is an eloquent statement of something which Gene Kloss has both observed and participated in. It is an Indian dance that is thought of as entertainment, rather than ceremony, but it is essentially an idea expressed in action, and an idea that has universal meaning. The young men who dance wear costumes of exquisite workmanship, intricately wrought with beads and feathers and subtle combinations of colors. The dancers are trained from childhood but develop their own steps and exhibit distinctive strength and grace. Singers and a tom-tom accompany the dance and since it usually takes place at night, a campfire is the source of light. The conclusion occurs when all the onlookers, old and young and from many places, join hands with the dancers in a slow revolving movement, while those who can, sing the difficult but meaningful Indian song that flows with the rhythmical dance step and speaks of fellowship, brotherhood, friendship." - An excerpt from a descriptive statement, written by Lynd Ward, and distributed with the drypoint at the time of publication." Courtesy Old Print Shop Born Alice Glasier in Oakland, CA, Kloss grew up amid the worldly bustle of the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with honors in art in 1924. She discovered her talents in intaglio printmaking during a senior-year course in figurative drawing. The professor, Perham Nahl, held up a print from Kloss’ first plate, still damp from the printing process, and announced that she was destined to become a printmaker. In 1925, Gene married Phillips Kloss, a poet and composer who became her creative partner for life. The match was uncanny, for in her own way Gene, too, was a poet and a composer. Like poetry, her artworks capture a moment in time; like music, her compositions sing with aesthetic harmony. Although she was largely self-taught, Kloss was a printmaking virtuoso. On their honeymoon the Klosses traveled east from California, camping along the way. They spent two week is Taos Canyon – with a portable printing press cemented to a rock near their campsite – where Gene learned to appreciate the wealth of artistic subject matter in New Mexico. The landscape, the cultures, and the immense sky left an indelible impression on the couple, who returned every summer until they made Taos their permanent home 20 years later. Throughout her life, Kloss etched more than 625 copper plates, producing editions ranging from five to 250 prints. She pulled every print in every edition herself, manually cranking the wheel of her geared Sturges press until she finally purchased a motorized one when she was in her 70s. Believing that subject matter dictated technique, she employed etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint, roulette, softground, and a variety of experimental approaches, often combining several techniques on the same plate. She also produced both oil and watercolor paintings. Kloss’ artworks are filled with drama. Her prints employ striking contrasts of darkness and light, and her subjects are often illuminated by mysterious light sources. Though she was a devout realist, there is also a devout abstraction on Kloss’ work that adds an almost mythical quality. For six decades Kloss documented the cultures of the region-from images of daily life to those of rarely seen ceremonies. She and her husband shared a profound respect for the land and people, which made them welcome among the Native American and Hispanic communities. Kloss never owned a camera but relied instead on observation and recollection. Her works provide an inside look at the cultures she depicted yet at the same time communicate the awe and freshness of an outsider’s perspective. Although Kloss is best known for her images of Native American and Penitente scenes, she found artistic inspiration wherever she was. During the early years of their marriage, when she and Phil returned to the Bay Area each winter to care for their aging families, she created images of the California coast. And when the Klosses moved to southwestern Colorado in 1965, she etched the mining towns and mountainous landscapes around her. In 1970 the Klosses returned to Taos and built a house north of town. Though her artwork continued to grow in popularity, she remained faithful to Taos’ Gallery A, where she insisted that owner Mary Sanchez keep the prices of her work reasonable regardless of its market value. Kloss continued to etch until 1985, when declining health made printmaking too difficult. From her first exhibition at San Francisco’s exclusive Gump’s in 1937 to her 1972 election to full membership in the National Academy of Design, Kloss experienced a selective fame. She received numerous awards, and though she is not as well known as members of the Taos Society of Artists...

Sevillanas Etching and color aquatint on laid watermarked paper, c. 1900 Signed by the artist in pencil lower right (see photo) Editioned in pencil lower left corner of sheet Publish...

Artist: Alice Asmar American (1929- ) Title: Harvest Dancers Year: 1980 Medium: Lithograph Sight size: 20.5 x 29.25 inches. Sheet size: 22 x 30 inches. Signature: Signed lower right Edition: 100. This one: 8/100 Condition: Very good Unframed This print by Alice Asmar (1929- ) is in very good never-framed condition with no flaws to note. American contemporary artist of Lebanese and Greek descent, Alice Asmar's art is often inspired by her love of nature, combined with a deep respect for native American culture, her work evolved into Southwestern themes of Indian Ceremonial Dance-Dramas, Indian portraits and landscapes. Her parents moved to Portland, Oregon when she was just a baby. She started drawing and painting at a very early age. Alice was considered a child prodigy; she was winning awards and recognition before the age of 10. The artwork of her early years was inspired by the splendors of nature, from the inscrutable pines and ancient sculptured rocks along the Oregon Coast to the mysterious ocean mists. She Graduated magna cum laude from Lewis and Clark College in Portland and obtained her Master's of Fine Arts Degree at The University of Washington in Seattle. Soon after graduating she accepted a job as an engineering drafter at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle. Her Assignment was clearing top secret drawings for air-to-ground missile. Alice worked for Boeing for less than a year. They offered her an engineering scholarship but she decided to go back to the art she loved doing from she was a child. In 1954, Alice received her teaching certificate from the University of Washington after which she taught art at Lewis & Clark (1955 to 1958). After studying and traveling throughout the Near East, France, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, The Greek Islands, Greece and Lebanon, Asmar set up studios in California, New Mexico and Oregon. Today, She works in an 800 - square-foot studio that she designed with four skylights and is located behind her home in Burbank, California. A master of several media, Asmar is distinguished for her many techniques which include paintings in Oil, casein and Acrylic, drawing in ink, pencil and pastel, collage, tapestry, books, lithography, etching, Engraving on metal on plexiglas, portraits, murals and banners. Her hand engraving of innovative designs for dinner and household wares for Nambe Mills in Santa Fe is also recognized internationally. Alice Asmar's works are in several hundred public and private collections in the United States and Europe, including the Smithsonian Institution, Franklin Mint, Portland Art Museum, Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs, The Public Art Museum of Gabrova, Bulgaria, Kaiser-Permanente, and the Dr. Nicholas Townell collection, Angus, Scotland. A selected list of her EXHIBITIONS is as follows: - Seattle Art Museum. - Museum of Science & Industry, Los Angeles. - Circle Gallery Ltd, Houston - Abbot Hall Gallery, William Temple...

Barbara Wagner is a printmaker who delights in the human form. This silkscreen of Dancers has its inspiration in Degas but is uniquely her own interpretation. This print is a "one of...