Skip to main content

Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Filipino, American, 1916-1990

Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio grappled with themes of childhood, birth, sexuality, mythology and religion in his vivid art. Before becoming close friends with artists Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner and Jean Dubuffet, he inherited a sugar fortune and amassed an art collection that became part of the Fogg Museum at Harvard University. It includes works by artist Thomas Derrick, sculptor Eric Gill, wood engraver Philip Hagreen, illustrator Denis Tegetmeier and artist and poet David Jones.

Born in 1916, Ossorio grew up in Manila in the Philippines. He later attended a Catholic boarding school in England and settled in the United States in 1930. He enrolled at Harvard in 1934 and, in 1937, launched an art career with cover designs for publications of work by poet Arthur Rimbaud. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1938 and complemented his art history studies with studio art classes at the Rhode Island School of Design. After his first solo exhibition at the Wakefield Gallery in 1941, Ossorio served the American Armed Forces until 1946. He met his lifelong partner, Ted Dragon, in 1948, as well as Pollock who guided his exploration of Abstract Expressionism.

Ossorio’s major works included a mural commissioned for the Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker in the Philippines. His return to his home country fueled a search inwards as a source of inspiration.

Ossorio bought an East Hampton, New York, estate, known as the Creeks, in which he housed Dubuffet’s entire Compagnie de l’Art Brut collection. By the late 1950s, Ossorio was heavily involved in curating and organizing exhibitions including shows featuring Pollock, Dubuffet, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Mark Rothko and David Smith

In the 1960s, Ossorio created his best known works. These “congregations,” as he called them, are assemblage sculptures of shells, pearls, feathers and driftwood playing on the connections between life and decay, and the raw and the refined.

Ossorio’s art is in collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. International exhibitions featuring his work have been held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Scotland and the National Museum of Modern Art in Japan as well as the L’Art Brut Museum in Switzerland and the 2019 Singapore Biennale.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Alfonso Ossorio prints and multiples.

to
4
4
1
3
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
4
4
4
4
547
430
206
177
4
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio
Abstract Expressionist etching by Alphonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Untitled VII Year: 1984/1990 Medium: Etching, signed in pencil Edition: P.P. Image Size: 23.5 x 17.75 inches Paper Size: 30.75 x ...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Untitled VI, Abstract Etching by Alfonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Untitled VII Year: 1984 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: PP Image Size: 24 x 17.75 inches Paper Size...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Untitled III, Abstract Print by Alfonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Untitled III Year: 1984 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: PP Image Size: 24 x 17.5 inches Paper Size:...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Amordie, Abstract Expressionist Etching by Alfonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Amordie Year: 1983 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 36 Image Size: 11 x 7 inches Paper Size: 18 x 1...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Related Items
Zao Wou-ki - Moments - Original Aquatint with Hand-Signed Justification
By Zao Wou-Ki
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Zao Wou-ki - Moments - Original Aquatint Edition of 130 Dimensions: 34.2 x 30.5 cm Vellum paper BFK Rives 1996 Bibliography: Jørgen Ågerup, Zao Wou-Ki: The Graphic Work, A Catalogue ...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Aquatint

Portrait of a Painter
By Alex Lazard
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
Title: Portrait of a Painter Etching and soft-ground etching, in colors, 2017. Edtion of 30 printed on 100% cotton paper. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. In excellent condit...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Large Italian Aquatint Etching Francesco Clemente Neo Expressionist Avant Garde
By Francesco Clemente
Located in Surfside, FL
Francesco Clemente (Italian b. 1952), 'This side up / Telemone #2, 1981 Medium: Intaglio hard ground etching, color aquatint, drypoint, and soft-ground etching with chine collé (ha...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint, Intaglio

'Feu sous L'eau' (Fire Under Water) —Mid-century Modernism, Atelier 17
By Stanley William Hayter
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Stanley William Hayter, 'Feu sous L'eau (Fire Under Water)', color engraving, soft-ground etching and scorper with yellow silkscreen, 1955, edition 50 plus 10 artist proofs, Black & Moorhead 221. Signed, titled 'Fire Under Water', dated and annotated 'Essai' in pencil. Dedicated in the artist’s hand 'for Adja & Dove WH Bill 17–5–55' in the top margin. A superb, richly inked impression with fresh colors, on heavy, cream wove paper; wide margins (2 1/2 to 3 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. One of 10 artist’s proofs. Image size 10 3/16 x 7 inches; sheet size 18 1/8 x 12 1/4 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK In 1950 Hayter returned to Paris and reopened Atelier 17. Works such as 'Fire Under Water' reveal newfound influences, such as that of the Ardèche area of southern France, where he acquired a house in 1951 and frequently visited. Hayter took great interest in the flowing Escoutay River, an experience that parallels the artist and co-director of Atelier 17 Krishna Reddy’s interest in depicting water. While some forms in this print evoke the natural world, the palette of contrasting tones of purple, yellow, black, and white reflects Hayter’s belief in using color intuitively to express emotions and evoke feelings. The sharp white relief lines from the paper and the textural effects realized through soft-ground etching operate in tandem with the sweeping curves and bold colors to give the composition a sense of vitality and dynamism. —edited from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Published by 'La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine', Paris. Impressions of this work are in the following collections: British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988) was a British painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with Surrealism and from 1940 onward with Abstract Expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of the 20th century, Hayter founded the legendary Atelier 17 studio in Paris, now known as Atelier Contrepoint. Among the artists he is credited with influencing are Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and Marc Chagall. The hallmark of the workshop was its egalitarian structure, breaking sharply with the traditional French engraving studios by insisting on a cooperative approach to labor and technical discoveries. In 1929 Hayter was introduced to Surrealism by Yves Tanguy and André Masson, who, with other Surrealists, worked with Hayter at Atelier 17. The often violent imagery of Hayter’s Surrealist period was stimulated in part by his passionate response to the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Fascism. He organized portfolios of graphic works to raise funds for the Spanish cause, including Solidarité (Paris, 1938), a portfolio of seven prints, one of them by Picasso. Hayter frequently exhibited with the Surrealists during the 1930s but left the movement when Paul Eluard was expelled. Eluard’s poem Facile Proie (1939) was written in response to a set of Hayter’s engravings. Other writers with whom Hayter collaborated included Samuel Beckett and Georges Hugnet. Hayter joined the exile of the Parisian avant-garde in 1939, moving with his second wife, the American sculptor Helen Phillips...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Engraving, Etching

Window
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American artists that radically defined abstraction and establish...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Winter Garden
By Leonard Edmondson
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Leonard Edmondson, 'Winter Garden', color etching, edition 50, 1957. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered '50/50' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impre...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Winter Garden
Winter Garden
H 11.19 in W 7.75 in D 0.01 in
Abstract Expressionist Taiwanese Etching Chihung Yang Chinese Calligraphy Art
Located in Surfside, FL
S.O.C. #1 2014 Etching 76.5 x 91cm Yang Chihung (Chinese: 楊識宏; pinyin: Yang Chihung; born 1947) Taiwanese-American artist. Yang Chi-hung was born on 25 October 1947, in Chungli, Taiwan. He developed an interest in art in early childhood, and found inspirations to pursue an artist career after reading Lust for Life – The Life of Vincent van Gogh, translated by poet Yu Kuang-chung, in junior high school. Between 1965 and 1968, he attended the National Taiwan College of Art, developing a sound foundation in oil painting under the tutelage of famous Taiwanese artists of the Japanese Colonial period, such as Liao Chi-chun, Li Mei-shu and Yang San-lang. Meanwhile, he actively attended events organized by the modern art groups of Taiwan, namely the Fifth Moon Group and Ton Fan Group, only to find himself both intimidated and dissatisfied with the then relatively conservative art environment in Taiwan. In 1979, he emigrated to the United States of America with his wife, Jane, and their son, Daniel. His pioneering works soon landed him the “Outstanding Asian-American Artist” award. The concept and style of abstract expressionism as represented by the works of Jackson Pollock in the 1950s had great impact on Yang’s work. With the sense of nihilism that gave rise to abstract expressionism in the post-war period, artists no longer clamored to depict the external environment, but rather chose to focus on their own inner experience. Yang Chihung embraced this spirit about the early 1990s when his style turned abstract. In 1984–85 and again in 1985–86, he was twice awarded a year's residency at The Clocktower Studio in New York City by MoMA P.S.1. In 2013, Yang, along with Xu Bing, Zhang Huan, and Li Chen, were the four artists featured in the Discovery Channel Asia documentary series, Chineseness, a multi-series production that focused on postwar Chinese contemporary artists. He is of the generation of artists such as Chen Tingshi, Liang Yifeng, Yang Yuyu, Pang Jiun, Yinhui Chen, Jui-Ling Hung, De-Jinn Shiy, Yong-ik Cho, Wan Chuan Chang, Kuosung Liu, Sanlang Yang, Chetsai Shen, Fu-sheng Ku, Chunxiang Zhao, Ming Ju, Ming-Che Huang, Jiutong Liu, In-Ting Ran, George Chann, Yi Hong, Tzu-Chi Yeh, Max Liu, Yi-Hsiung Chang, Che Chuang Awards and recognition 1989, Outstanding Asian American Artist Award, by Governor of New York 1984–1986, MoMA P.S.1 National Studio Program, Residency at Clocktower Studio, New York SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1969 Contemporary Young Artists Exhibition, U. S. I. S. Lincoln Center, Taipei, Taiwan 1974 Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Ueno Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan 1977 10 Chinese Leading Artists, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan 1978 Contemporary Chinese Art from Taiwan, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong 1978 International Exhibition of Prints, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, South Korea 1979 6th British International Print Biennial, Bradford Art Galleries and Museum, England 1980 4th Miami International Print Biennial, Metropolitan Museum Coral Gables, Florida 1982 Summer Invitational, Susan Caldwell Inc, New York City 1982 Four Artists, SoHo Center for Visual Artists, New York City 1983 New Acquisitions and Trustee's Choice, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 1983 Cleveland (UK) 6th International Drawing Biennale, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, England 1983 Dreams Demons Madness, Alternative Museum, New York City 1984 Rambunctious, Siegel Contemporary Art, New York City 1984 Invitational Painting Exhibition, Part II: Eight Imagist Painters, Siegel Contemporary Art, NYC 1984 Salvo, Ruth Siegel Ltd, New York 1984 Modern Art, Ted Greenwald Gallery, New York City 1985 Exotica, Paintings and Works on Paper, Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York City 1985 The Art of the 1970s and 1980s, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT 1985 Large Figurative Drawings, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia 1985 Studio Programs, 1984 -1985, The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Inc, The Clocktower, New York City 1985 Surplus, Exit Art, New York City 1985 Four Painters From New York, Janet Steinberg Gallery, San Francisco, California 1985 Harvest, Ruth Siegel Ltd, New York City 1986 The Object Revitalized, The Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 1986 Annual Juried Exhibition '86, The Queens Museum, New York City 1986 Summer Group Show, Galleri Mustad, Sweden 1987 New Work - New York, Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida 1988 The Shell: Design Spirit, Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Paramus, New Jersey 1988 Works on Paper, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, New York 1988 The Flower Show, Betsy Rosenfield Gallery, Chicago, Illinois 1988 Classical Myth and Imagery in Contemporary Art, The Queens Museum, Flushing, NY 1988 Continuity and Change; Five Contemporary Chinese Artists, Yale University Art Gallery 1988 First Anniversary Exhibition, Michael Walls Gallery, New York City 1989 Second Anniversary Exhibition, Michael Walls Gallery, New York City 1990 The Matter At Hand; Contemporary Drawings, UWM Art Museum, University of Wisconsin, 1991 Entr'acte, Michael Walls Gallery, New York City 1991 Taipei - New York: Confrontation of Modernism, The Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Taiwan 1991 Past Becoming Future, The Contemporary Art Gallery, Seibu, Tokyo, Japan 1992 Intimate Universe; Small-Scale Paintings By Twenty-five American Artists, Michael Walls 1993 Paper Trails; The Eidetic Image, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign, 1993 Intimate Universe, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, New York 1994 Isn't It Romantic? On Crosby Street, New York City 1994 To enchant (blue), Cynthia McCallister Gallery/Bixler Gallery, New York City 1994 Singapore International Art Fair, Sarina Tang Fine Art, Singapore 1994 Taipei Modem Art Exhibition, The National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand 1995 A Romantic Impulse: Seventeen American Artists, O'Hara Gallery, New York City 1995 Chinese Artists in the United States, Hong Kong Land Limited, The Rotunda, Hong Kong 1996 Taipei Modern Art Exhibition, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China 1996 In Full Bloom: Flower and Garden Paintings, Lizan-Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1997 Intimate Universe [Revisited], Robert Steele Gallery, New York City 1997 A Thought Intercepted, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California 1997 Forces of Nature, Taipei Gallery, New York City, 1997 Lizan-Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1998 Asian Aesthetic, Takara/Yukiko Lunday Gallery, Houston, Texas 1998 Contemporary Art from the Overseas Chinese, Galerie Pierre, Taichung, Taiwan 1999 Looking for the Light, The Gallery on the Hudson, Irvington, New York 1999 Visions of Pluralism, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; Mountain Art Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2001 Fifteen Asian American Artists, Staller Center For the Arts, University at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York (Artists: Arai, Tomie; Byun, Chong Gon; Huang, Wennie; Jo, Sook Jin; Kawata, Tamiko; Le, Dinh; Lee, Bing; Li, lan; Ng, Chee Wang; Rahman, Ram; Shin, Jean; Snyder, Kit-Yin; Wong, Paul; Yamaoka, Carrie; Yang, Chihung) 2001 Rain Forest/Contemporary Paintings Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan 2001 Taipei Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China 2001 Rain Forest, Taipei Gallery, Chinese Information and Culture Center, New York 2002 Rain Forest, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas 2002 Contemporary Chinese Abstraction, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China 2002 Contemporary Chinese Abstraction, SenJuing Museum of Art , Guangdong, China 2003 Vision, 456 Gallery and Cork Gallery / Lincoln Center, New York 2003 World Artist's Calligraphy Biennale, Son Arts Center of Jeollabuk-do, Korea 2003 Fifty Years of Post War Taiwanese Art, Chan Liu Art Museum, Taoyuan, Taiwan 2004 Salon Comparaisons, Espace Auteuil, Paris, France 2005 Kuandu Extravaganza, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2005 China-Korea Modern...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Grey Open
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American artists that radically defined abstraction and establish...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Reflections V
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is excited to be offering this evocative print by the inimitable Louise Nevelson - one of the most revered and unique sculptors of the 20th century. Nevelson is renowned for her mysterious and complex artworks. She was an active printmaker, experimenting with different techniques and approaches while working with some of the best print-making studios in the United States. Nevelson, whether working in sculpture or in two dimensions typically had a strict palette; almost exclusively black. While there are iconic works in white, gold, or raw wood, Nevelson almost entirely avoids color. However, during the last decade of her life, her palette expands notably with her printmaking. "Reflections V" is an example from her 1983 portfolio, "Reflections I-V" consisting of six large-scale prints. These prints contain signature elements found throughout Nevelson's prints; ripped or collage-like forms as well as the use of fabric, lace, and toile in the printing process. However one of the strongest characteristics of the "Reflections" series is her new uninhibited use of color. Here it is used to maximum effect. This work features unexpected elements of fluorescent turquoise and fuschia that punctuate her signature layered collage-like composition. Nevelson's late prints are truly some of her best. Over the last few years, there has been tremendous momentum in both interest and appreciation of Nevelson's work. In May of 2021, a new auction record of $1.35 million was established for one of Nevelson's signature white construction sculptures...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Jean Miotte - Abstract Composition - Original Signed Lithograph
By Jean Miotte
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Miotte - Rare Original Signed Lithograph Title: Abstract Composition Dimensions: 76 x 56 cm Edition: 64/99 Signed and Numbered in pencil
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Aquatint

Seaside Studio
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined abstraction and...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

'Flight to Tomorrow' — Mid-Century American Modernism — Atelier 17
By Minna Citron
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Minna Citron, 'Flight to Tomorrow', aquatint and engraving, edition unknown but small, 1948. Signed, titled, dated, and annotated 'engr & aqua' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression with selectively wiped plate tone, on heavy cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (1 3/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 6 7/8 x 8 7/16 inches (175 x 214 mm); sheet size 11 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches (283 x 378 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: The Women of Atelier 17, Modernist Printmaking in MidCentury New York, Christina Weyl, Yale University Press, 2019, p. 186. Collections: Davis Museum (Wellesley), Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium, Harvard Art Museums, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Palmer Museum of Art (Penn State...
Category

1940s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Engraving, Aquatint

Previously Available Items
Abstract Expressionist etching by Alphonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Quem Quaeritis Year: 1984 Medium: Etching, signed in pencil Edition: 20/36 Image Size: 23.5 x 17.5 inches Paper Size: 31 x 24 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Abstract Expressionist etching by Alphonso Ossorio
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Quod, dixi, dixi Year: 1984 Medium: Etching, signed in pencil Edition: P.P. Image Size: 23.5 x 17.5 inches Paper Size: 31 x 21 in...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Untitled IV
By Alfonso Ossorio
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfonso Ossorio (Filipino, 1916-1990) Title: Untitled IV Year: 1984 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: PP Image Size: 8 inches in diameter Paper Si...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Alfonso Ossorio Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Alfonso Ossorio abstract prints for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Alfonso Ossorio abstract prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Alfonso Ossorio in etching and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1980s and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Alfonso Ossorio abstract prints, so small editions measuring 12 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of James Brooks, Katherine Chang Liu, and Jules Olitski. Alfonso Ossorio abstract prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $2,500, while the average work can sell for $2,250.

Recently Viewed

View All