Gene Kloss Art

Original Etching signed by the Artist in the lower right corner. 69/75

'Noonday Shadows', etching and drypoint, edition 75, 1941, Kloss 376. Signed, and titled in pencil. A superb, richly inked impression, in warm black ink, on buff wove paper, in excel...

On Christmas Day Drypoint and aquatint, 1979 Signed lower right: Gene Kloss (see photo) Inscribed lower left: "Artist's Proof", and titled "On Christmas Day" An "artist's proof" impression, outside the edition of 25 examples signed and numbered Reference: Sanchez 581 Condition: Excellent Image/Plate size: 10 7/8 x 13 7/8 inches Sheet size: 14 5/8 x 17 5/8 inches 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...

Etching and drypoint on paper by famous Taos Artist Gene Kloss (1903-1996). Title: Adobe Houses and Taos Mountain. Unframed and un-matted. Kloss #483 Pencil titled lower left. Pencil...

GENE KLOSS (1903 – 1996) TAOS INDIAN JESTERS, 1944 Etching and aquatint, Signed and titled in pencil. Edition 30. Image 11” x 13 7/8”, sheet 13 ¼ x 16 ½”. In very good condition sa...

GENE KLOSS (1903 – 1996) TAOS EAGLE DANCE, 1955 (Sanchez 458) Aquatint and drypoint, signed and titled in pencil. Plate 10 7/8 x 13 7/8”, sheet 13 ½ x 17”. Edition 35. Image in v...

Etching & Drypoint on paper by famous Taos Artist Gene Kloss (1903-1996). Titled: “Old Pinon Tree.” Pencil signed lower right and in excellent condition. Image measures: 8" H x 6" W....

Drypoint on paper by famous Taos Artist Gene Kloss (1903-1996). Titled: “Pueblo Dancer.” Pencil signed lower right and in excellent condition. Image measures: 8" H x 6" W. Sheet size...

"Pueblo Firelight Dance (Edition 35)" is a black and white etching on paper by Kloss, Gene (Alice Geneva Glasier) (1903-1996) from 1952 of a Pueblo village in a nightscape with a fire and figures dancing around it. Presented in a frame, outer dimensions measure 21 ¼ x 26 x 1 inches. Image sight size 12 ½ x 17 inches. Etching is clean and in good vintage condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Provenance: Private collection, Denver, Colorado Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Gene Kloss is considered one of America’s master printmakers. Beginning her career in California, it was not until she moved to Taos, New Mexico, and began her life’s work of its landscape and peoples that she received national acclaim. Just as compelling as her subject matter was her creative, experimental approach to printing. Referring to her etching as "painting," she applied acid directly onto the plate with a fine Japanese brush or a pencil. Achieving a wide variety of tones and smooth color gradients, she developed a style characterized by deep, rich blacks and haloed white regions of light. Born Alice Geneva Glasier, she got her Bachelors Degree of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley (1924) and studied at the California School of Fine Arts (1924-25). In a senior-year drawing class, the professor, Perham Nahl, held up a damp intaglio print from Kloss’ first plate presciently predicted she was destined to become a printmaker. So relying upon manuals, she set upon a course of self-education, which allowed her to be more daring in her explorations of process. In 1925, she married Phillips Kloss, a poet and composer who was completely dedicated to her art — at times putting her creative needs before his own. On their honeymoon, the newlyweds traveled east, camping as they went along. Reaching New Mexico, they stayed for two week in Taos Canyon on the way up to the Sangre des Cristo Mountains, cementing a portable sixty-pound printing press to a rock near their campsite. With winters in Berkeley to care for their aging families, they returned for the better part of the year in Taos, until they became full-time residents in 1945. For a period the Klosses lived in southern Colorado, where she introduced its mountains and mining towns into her work. Kloss began using the name Gene to avoid any bias against female artists. Whether Alice Kloss would have garnered fewer honors is a moot point, but Gene was well regarded by her peers, who elected her to Associate Membership in the prestigious National Academy of Design in 1950 and Full Membership in 1972—the first American woman printmaker ever to be so honored. In addition, she was considered one of the leading artists of New Mexico modernism, exhibiting alongside Ernest Blumenschein, Georgia O’Keefe, and John Sloan in Paris in 1938. In the thirties, Kloss was employed by the WPA, making a series of prints of Mesa Verde that were distributed to schools. She became caught up with a fascination with the communal culture of Southwestern indigenous people: “The individual Indian is lost out of the tribe but meaningful in the group that integrates itself with nature that has evolved laws for society, divided labor for existence, developed the arts and crafts — all unified in a religion that is significantly expressed in the ceremonies.” Invited to Taos Pueblo, she wouldn’t take photographs or sketch in keeping with the strict regulations. Working from memory, she created scenes in which individual elements became part of dramatic composition, a sensibility seen throughout her work. Adapting technique to subject matter, she employed etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint, roulette, softground, and a variety of experimental approaches, often combining several techniques on the same plate. In total, Kloss etched more than 625 copper plates, comprising editions ranging from five to 250 prints. Pulling every print herself, she manually cranked the wheel of her geared Sturges press, until she purchased a motorized one in her 70s. Education: University of California at Berkeley; California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco; California School of Arts and Crafts, Oakland. Exhibited: Whitney Museum of American Art; Sweden; World’s Fair, New York; Golden Gate Exposition; United States Exhibition; Paris; Italy; Prairie Print...

Summertime Mountain Landscape Painting by Gene Kloss, Oil on board. Presented in a custom frame, outer dimensions measure 25 ¼ x 32 ¼ x 1 ½ inches. Image size is 20 ½ x 27 ½ inches. Painting is clean and in very good vintage condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Provenance: Private Collection, Colorado Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Gene (Alice Geneva) Kloss is considered one of America’s master printmakers. She was born in Oakland, California and established herself as an artist on the West coast. Kloss was introduced to etching by Perham Nahl while at UC Berkley. She graduated in 1924, and in 1925 married poet Phillips Kloss. In her late twenties, Kloss moved to Taos, New Mexico and began her life’s work of the New Mexican landscape and peoples. It was at this time that she received national acclaim. Her artwork exudes an unmistakable content and style. Enchanted by the architecture, mountainous landscapes and rituals of the inhabitants, Kloss captured the beauty of the Southwest and surrounding areas. Her style was bold yet deftly simple, masterfully expressing the elusive Southwestern light...

GENE KLOSS (1903 - 1996) FOG OVER THE GOLDEN GATE, 1954 (Kloss 455) Drypoint and aquatint signed and titled in pencil, annotated Artist Proof. Edition 35. Image, 10 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches....

'Riders at Sundown', aquatint and drypoint, edition 75, Kloss 451, 1953. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, richly-inked, atmospheric impression, in brown/black ink, on cream wov...

'Processional - Taos', aquatint and drypoint, edition 250, Kloss 431, 1948. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, in warm black ink, with full margins (1 to...

'Pilar', aquatint and drypoint, edition 75, Kloss 400, 1945. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, atmospheric impression, in warm black ink, on cream, wove paper; full margins (3/4...

Gene Kloss (1903-1996) "To a Wedding in North House" 1973 Drypoint and Etching Sheet Size: approx 13 x 16 Signed Lower Right Numbered Lower Left 10/50 Titled Gene Kloss arrived in T...