Ray H. French Art

The Swan Etching and soft ground intaglio, 1957 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Titled and numbered lower left (see photo) From the second edition of 75 impressions, printed...

Happy Ray Day! For 1 week, from April 19th, 2017, all Ray H. French works of art on paper will be discounted 19% and 1 lucky random patron will receive a second FREE! Embossed relief print on heavy paper Signed, dated, titled and numbered Edition: 10 (10/10) Provenance: Estate of the artist References And Exhibitions: This work predates Josef Albers serigraph...

Debris Etching, engraving and color aquatint, 1947 Signed, dated, titled and number Edition: 25 (1/25), never fully realized Created in the artist's first year studying at the Univer...

Porcupine Engraving, 1949 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Titled and numbered lower left (see photo) Created while the artist was completing the MFA in Printmaking at the Un...

Signed, dated, and titled in pencil by the artist Dedicated: "To Jon From Ray" Edition: 100 in two printings A studio proof from the second printing by Jon Clemens, master printe...

Etching in two colors Signed, dated, titled in pencil by the artist Sheet size: 19 5/8 x 25 3/4"

Untitled (Tuscan Landscape) Tissue paper collage on Fabriano support Signed and dated lower right in ink Provenance: Estate of the artist Martha A. French Trust Created while the art...

Elephant Engraing, 1957, printed 1988 Signed, dated, and titled in pencil by the artist Dedicated: "For Jon From Ray" Edition: 100 in two printings This is an artist's proof from th...

Strange Animals Engraving, 1949 Signed, dated, and titled in pencil by the artist The composition was created at the Univerisity of Iowa while the artist was enrolled in the famous M...

Walruses Engraving, 1952 Signed, dated, titled and numbered (see photos) Edition: 100, this from the second printing with the artist's initials in an edition of 25 (16/25) Condition:...

Untitled (Seascape at night) Tissue paper collage on Fabriano wove paper, 1964 Signed in ink lower left Annotated 42 in pencil on verso Condition: Excellent Image/Sheet size: 10 x 13 7/8 inches Part of a suite of collages created during the artist's sabatical leave from teaching, spent in Florence, Italy, studying at the Accademia D'Arte Firenze in 1963-1964. Ray H. French: The Evolution of an Artistic Innovator Printmaker, painter, and sculptor Ray H. French was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on May 16, 1919. Terre Haute was a cultural wasteland before the opening of the Sheldon Swope Art Museum in 1942. Thus, with a father as a coal miner and carpenter, art remained a luxury for Ray. Nevertheless, local art teachers Mabel Mikel Williams and Nola E. Williams helped to foster his creativity and unshakable drive to create things of beauty. After high school, Ray attended the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. His studies there were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, during which he developed surveillance photographs for the Army Air Force. After the war, Ray transferred to the University of Iowa on the G.I. Bill, where he received both his BFA and MFA degrees. The University of Iowa during the 1940s was a cultural mecca with many major art historians and artists. While in Iowa, Ray played an important role in this culture by becoming a founding member of the Iowa Print Group under Mauricio Lasansky. Following his graduation in 1948, Ray experienced firsthand the rapid rise in creative printmaking in America. By 1949, he had exhibited at The Brooklyn Museum, the Walker Art Center, and MOMA New York. Ray’s early style of printmaking is characterized by pure line engraving on copper plates, a technique suited perfectly to his study of the beauty of animals. This charming and whimsical subject ran counter to the concurrent trends of Lasansky’s horrors of war and Hayter’s non-objectivity, but was equally effective in capturing the public’s attention. Walruses was purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum, exhibited at MOMA New York and received the Arthur D. Allen Memorial Purchase Prize for its “skillful and economic use of line.” Shortly thereafter, Ray’s treatment of animals developed further into larger format mixed intaglio prints utilizing hard ground, soft ground, etching, and engraving, as exemplified in The Swan. By the late 1950s, Ray’s style evolved into organic non-objectivity, in which he incorporated personal autobiographical vignettes and symbolism. His work during this time was further characterized by a departure from the traditional squared compositional format to his cutting and rounding of the plate to accentuate organic shapes. Ray’s 1959 Enchantment remains particularly illustrative of his use of etching and soft ground intaglio. Enchantment was successfully exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for the 12th National Print Exhibition of The American Federation of the Arts and received the Pennell Purchase Prize from the Library of Congress in 1960. In the 1960s, Ray also started to focus on blind embossing, which he had first experimented with at the University of Iowa. He was extremely prolific and successful with this medium, selling hundreds of prints in small editions of 10 through the Associated American Artist Gallery in New York. In 1966, Ray built upon his mastery of embossing and began developing a shadow box presentation called a graphic construction that combined color, blind embossing, and multi-layered cutouts to revel intaglio compositions. Noted curator William Lieberman purchased Ray’s masterpiece graphic construction, Moon Rays...

Signed, dated, titled in pencil by the artist; Annotated "To Jon from Ray" Reproduced in the artists Retrospective Exhibition catalogue. In the collection of the Wichita Art...

Vienna Lipizzaner Engraving, 1962 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Titled and numbered lower left (see photo) This impression is from the second edtition printed c. 1992 1st ...

The Web Engraving and soft ground, 1950 Signed, titled, dated and numbered by the artist Edition: 35 (26/35) Printed by Master Printer, Jon Clemens, 2000 Provenance: Estate of the ar...

Aardvark Engraving, 1951 Signed, dated, titled in pencil by the artist (see photo) Annotated "To Jon from Ray" (see photo) Printed by Jon Clemens, Master Printer, c. 1990 Condition: ...

Signed and dated lower left Created in 1964 while the artist was living in Florence, Italy Collage with tissue paper and printed images and text From the Estate of the Artist

Crucifixion Engraving, etching, and ground printed in colors, 1947 Signed, titled and numbered in pencil (see photos) From the second printing by Jon Clemens, master printer in the 1990's Done while the artist was at the Iowa Print Group, MFA Program, University of Iowa . Condition: excellent Image/Plate size: 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches Provenance: Estate of the artist Printmaker, painter, and sculptor Ray H...

Three Graces Pentel marker on paper, 1965 Signed and dated by the artist lower left (see photo) Part of a series of 100 drawings, this number 97 (annotated lower right corner) Condition: Excellent Sheet/Image size: 20 x 15 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Martha A. French Trust Ray H. French: The Evolution of an Artistic Innovator Printmaker, painter, and sculptor Ray H. French was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on May 16, 1919. Terre Haute was a cultural wasteland before the opening of the Sheldon Swope Art Museum in 1942. Thus, with a father as a coal miner and carpenter, art remained a luxury for Ray. Nevertheless, local art teachers Mabel Mikel Williams and Nola E. Williams helped to foster his creativity and unshakable drive to create things of beauty. After high school, Ray attended the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. His studies there were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, during which he developed surveillance photographs for the Army Air Force. After the war, Ray transferred to the University of Iowa on the G.I. Bill, where he received both his BFA and MFA degrees. The University of Iowa during the 1940s was a cultural mecca with many major art historians and artists. While in Iowa, Ray played an important role in this culture by becoming a founding member of the Iowa Print...

Strange Animals Engraving, 1949 Signed, dated, and titled in pencil by the artist The composition was created at the Univerisity of Iowa while the artist was enrolled in the famous M...

Signed , dated and titled in pencil by the artist Artist proof from the second printing by Jon Clemens Annotated "To Jon from Ray"

Signed and dated center right edge; Annotated "48" lower left Provenance: Estate of the artist One of a suite of 120 drawings that the artist did in 1 month. Most were sold thro...

Signed and dated by the artist vertically lower left edge. Part of an experimental series of works using motor oil, India Ink, adhesives, sand, and various other mediums.

Crucifixion Engraving, 1958 Signed, dated, titled, and annotated 'Printers Proof II' in pencil A printed by Master Printer Jon Clemens, c. 2000 A brilliant impression full of burr Im...

Signed and dated "1962" by the artist lower right. Mixed media on heavy paper. Done for a show to fund a trip to Italy.

Seascape at Sunset Collage with tissue paper and gold foil on Fabriano paper, 1964 Signed and dated in ink, lower right (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the artist Martha A. French...

Olympian Games Engraving, 1957 Signed, dated, titled and numbered (see photos) Edition: 25 (7/25) From the first and only edition, probably less than 8 impressions printed Printed by the artist Condition: Excellent soft fold in upper left margin Image size: 15 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches Sheet size: 18 1/2 x 22 3/8 inches Provenance: Estate of the artist Martha A. French Revocable Trust Item Reference LU14013763732 Crucifixion, color etching, 1947 Item Reference LU14013160582 The Web, engraving, 1950 Item Reference LU14011892032 The Swan, mixed media (etching & soft ground), 1957 Item Reference LU1404294651 Snowy Egret, engraving, 1954, third edition c. 1990, printed by the master printer Jon Clemens Item Reference LU1402253433 Debris, color etching, c. 1940, printed by the artist at the John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana Item Reference LU140331242 Crucifixion, engraving, 1958 Item Reference LU140145330 Strange Animals, engraving, 1947 Item Reference G130708140172 The Gull, engraving, 1955 Item Reference LU14012448972 Moon Rays...

La grande incognita (The great unknown) Collage elements with paint, paint and paper foil, 1964 1964 Created while the artist was studying at the Accademia d'Arte, Florence Signed an...

Moon Rays Graphic Construction (three sheets layered in a shadow box presentation), 1967 Signed lower right. Editioned lower left. (see photos) Edition: 60 f...

Signed, dated, titled, and annotated 'Printers Proof' in pencil References And Exhibitions: Printed by the master printer John Clemmens. Exhibited by the Brooklyn Museum in ...