The Art Show 2021

SUSAN SHEEHAN GALLERY The Art Show 2021

SUSAN SHEEHAN GALLERY 136 East 16th Street New York, NY 10003 212-489-3331 info@susansheehangallery.com www.susansheehangallery.com

On the cover: Richard Diebenkorn High Green, Version I, 1992 Aquatint with etching and drypoint

NOVEMBER 3RD - 7TH, 2021 PARK AVENUE ARMORY Park Avenue at 67th Street New York

BOOTH B3 Click here to purchase tickets Show Hours Thursday-Friday, 12:00 – 8:00 pm Saturday, 12:00 – 7:00 pm Sunday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm Gala Preview by Invitation Wednesday November 3rd, 4:00 – 9:30 pm

Joan Mitchell Sunflowers I, 1992 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 56 7/8 x 82 3/8 inches Printer and publisher: Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York Edition: 34, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Barnett Newman Untitled, 1961 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 30 1/8 x 22 1/8 inches Printer: Pratt Graphic Art Center, New York Publisher: The artist Edition: 30, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: BNF 204 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Barnett Newman (1905-1970) is perhaps best known as a painter whose signature “zips,” vertical bands that cut through the picture plane, influenced many Minimalist artists. However, throughout his career, Newman experienced periods when he stopped painting altogether. During one such episode, following the death of his brother George in 1960, he was introduced to lithography by the artist Cleve Gray, who thought that working in a new medium might spark Newman’s interest. He directed Newman to the Pratt Graphic Art Center, a print workshop loosely affiliated with Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. The Graphic Art Center was available to students as well as established artists looking to experiment with printmaking. In 1961, Newman made three untitled lithographs at Pratt which can be viewed in relation to his monumental painting cycle and personal meditation on mortality, The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani (1958–66). Newman later described himself as being “captivated” by lithography and by the various possibilities offered by different inks and papers. In the final decade of his life, he was a productive printmaker, creating approximately forty editions in both lithography and etching.

Right Newman, New York, 1957

Barnett Newman Untitled, 1961 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 30 1/16 x 22 1/8 inches Printer: Pratt Graphic Art Center, New York Publisher: The artist Edition: 30, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: BNF 203 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Barnett Newman Untitled Etching 2, 1969 Medium: Etching with aquatint Sheet Size: 31 3/4 x 22 3/4 inches Printer and publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York Edition: 27, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: BNF 250 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Helen Frankenrhaler Tales of Genji III, 1998 Medium: Woodcut Sheet Size: 46 3/4 x 41 3/4 inches Printer and publisher: Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York Edition: 36, plus proofs Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Jasper Johns Usuyuki, 1980 Medium: Silkscreen Sheet Size: 51 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches Printer: Simca Print Artists, Inc., New York Publisher: Jasper Johns and Simca Print Artists, Inc., New York Edition: 90, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: ULAE 210 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

“Usuyuki” has many meanings in Japanese: a light snow, something that passes quickly, or a Kabuki play that tells a love story. The term first came to Jasper Johns’ attention in connection with the Kabuki play, Shin Usuyuki Monogatari.

The twists in this narrative conveyed “the fleeting beauty of the world,” revealing the metaphor inherent to the term usuyuki.

Produced between 1979 and 2004, Johns’ eponymous Usuyuki series is composed of four paintings, fifteen drawings, and five editioned prints. Three of these prints, including this image, were made at Simca Print Artists in New York, a screen printing studio founded by master printers Hiroshi Kawanishi, Kenjiro Nonaka, and Takashi Shimada in 1980.

Right Johns at Simca Print Artists, New York, 1980

The series focuses on subtle variations in a system of gridded cross-hatched lines, based on a numbered scheme Johns rotated, mirrored, and cropped throughout the twenty-four iterations of the subject in various media. The pale palette of this Usuyuki print makes an especially clear allusion to the series’ title. The print was created using a series of twelve screens to generate layers and subtle color gradation. The recent exhibition Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror —a show divided between the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art—features works from the Usuyuki series.

Right Johns at Simca Print Artists, New York, 1980

Helen Frankenthaler Vineyard Storm, 1974-76 Medium: Woodcut Sheet Size: 31 1/2 x 27 inches Printer and publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York Edition: 4, plus proofs Signed, dated, and annotated in pencil, lower margin

Helen Frankenthaler Savage Breeze, 1974 Medium: Woodcut Sheet Size: 31 1/2 x 27 inches Printer and publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York Edition: 31, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Wayne Thiebaud Dark Cake, 1983 Medium: Woodcut Sheet Size: 20 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches Printer: Shi-un-do Print Shop, Kyoto, Japan Publisher: Crown Point Press, San Francisco, California Edition: 200, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

In 1982, San Francisco’s Crown Point Press inaugurated a woodblock program in Japan, whereby artists were invited to travel to Kyoto to create woodblock prints. Program participants worked closely with Tadashi Toda, an expert in ukiyo-e, an ancient method of woodblock printing, and had the opportunity to create woodcut prints using watercolor pigments rather than oil-based inks, as were typically used in the United States. Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920) produced Dark Cake during a formative visit to Kyoto as part of this program, using these new methods of printmaking to imbue his favorite subjects with new energy. By 1983, Thiebaud had been creating vibrant, realistic paintings and prints of confections for nearly 30 years. Although the cake in this print is characteristically recognizable, Thiebaud somewhat eschews accuracy in favor of experimenting with layers of color, embracing the possibilities of printing with watercolor pigments.

Dark Cake also reveals Thiebaud’s sensitivity to light, as seen in the myriad reflections on the table below the dessert. The loose, airy feeling of the print belies the highly technical process used to create it and exemplifies how even experienced printmakers benefitted from Crown Point’s woodblock program.

Left Thiebaud at home in Sacramento, 1961

Andy Warhol Marilyn, 1967 Medium: Screenprint Sheet Size: 6 x 6 inches Printer: Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., New York Publisher: Factory Additions, New York Edition: 100, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: F & S II.21 Signed in pencil and numbered with a rubber stamp, verso

After completing his iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans paintings in the early 1960s, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) began exploring the photo-silkscreen printmaking process, seeking to disseminate images of his best paintings and expand his market. In 1967, Warhol established a print publishing company, Factory Additions, expressly for this purpose. For the earliest of the Factory Additions portfolios, Warhol chose one of his most famous paintings, his portrait of Marilyn Monroe. The source image for the paintings was a publicity photo for the film Niagara.

David Whitney, Warhol’s close friend, oversaw the production of the ten Marilyn screenprints of 1967, choosing most of the colors and submitting them to Warhol for approval. Though the earlier Marilyn paintings were colorful, the prints were far more saturated and vibrant. This image was made to announce the publication of the Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) print portfolio.

Right Warhol at The Factory, New York, 1967

Ellsworth Kelly Yellow Curve, 1988 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 26 x 84 inches Printer and publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, California Edition: 25, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Axsom 228 Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin

This unusually large print by Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015) was created as part of his 1988 Fans series of lithographs made at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles. Each of the fifteen prints in the series features Kelly’s fan motif centered on a sheet of white paper. In the series, Kelly uses red, yellow, blue, green, black, and gray inks. Yellow Curve, the only lithograph of the fifteen to use yellow, is one of the most vibrant.

Kelly experimented with radial curves and segmented circles in his previous print series First Curve Series (1973-1974), Second Curve Series (1973-1975), and Romanesque Series (1973-1976). Prints in these series not only relate to Kelly’s curved paintings made prior to 1973, but also serve as the basis for curved paintings Kelly would make in the 1980s. Likewise, the fan curve motif of Kelly’s 1988 lithographs was first explored in a series of oil on canvas paintings from 1972, including Blue Curve III and Red Curve II. Using the motif in 1974, Kelly created four wall-relief sculptures from aluminum. An additional fan curve wall-relief made of weathering-steel was completed in 1981, becoming the largest example of the motif at 228 inches in length at the time. In 2009, this was surpassed by the completion of White Curve, a painted aluminum wall-relief that spans an impressive 54 feet.

Right Kelly studying a color chart at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, 1983

Donald Judd Untitled, 1961-63/1968-69 Medium: Woodcut Sheet Size: 30 5/8 x 22 inches Printer: Roy C. Judd Publisher: Donald Judd Edition: 10 Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 57 Signed in pencil, recto; Signed, dated ‘61-65,’ numbered 4/10, and annotated ‘Don Judd II-R 4/10 61-69,’ in pencil, vers

so

Jasper Johns Two Flags, 1972 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 27 1⁄2 x 32 inches Printer and publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York Edition: 36, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: ULAE 120 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Vija Celmins Untitled Portfolio, 1975 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 16 3/8 x 20 1/8 inches, each Printer and publisher: Cirrus Editions, Los Angeles, California Edition: 75, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: MMA 6, 7, 8, and 9 Each sheet is signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin This extremely rare, complete portfolio includes Untitled (Desert), Untitled (Galaxy), Untitled (Sky),

and Untitled (Ocean) and retains the original title page.

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Above Celmins at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, 2002

ce 1965, Vija Celmins has been meticulously “redescribing” photographic images ough the use of traditional methods of printmaking. From wood engraving and hing to mezzotint and lithography, Celmins has proven herself a master printmaker. er the course of her career, she has collaborated with Tamarind Lithography rkshop, Cirrus Editions, and Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles, California and with mmelink/Sukimoto Editions in Ventura, California.

mmon motifs that have emerged in her work are ocean waves and desert floors en derived from photos taken by Celmins near her home in Venice Beach and he Mojave Desert), as well as luminous clouds and starry skies (based mostly magazine photos from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena). Of such k, Celmins commented “There is a feeling of timelessness that is implied in mage of an ocean that really has no boundaries.” Ironically, Celmins’ cropping hese images imposes a boundary, limiting our perception to just the surface seemingly infinite expanses. The resulting works present irregular, naturally urring patterns void of horizon lines and other spatial markers that are typically nd in geographic renderings.

his effect, critic Max Kozloff remarked, “[Celmins] is concerned with illusions of ure entirely void of any tangent with our needs, our social experiences, and our ory. This is how things looked and will look, one imagines, before we came and r we are gone… This choice of iconography— though, of course, it amounts to re than that: a diminishing of our egos— is brought off very simply by a selection photographic images lacking any internal evidence to place or date them.”

Vija Celmins Concentric Bearings B, 1984 Medium: Aquatint, drypoint and mezzotint Sheet Size: 7 3/8 x 14 1/2 inches Printer and publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, California Edition: 35, plus proofs Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Richard Diebenkorn High Green, Version I, 1992 Medium: Aquatint with etching and drypoint Sheet Size: 52 3/4 x 33 3/4 inches Printer and publisher: Crown Point Press, San Francisco, California Edition: 65, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Though Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) used a variety of print techniques over the course of his career, his most colorful images were achieved through intaglio. Beginning in 1980, he created a series of color aquatints with Kathan Brown at San Francisco’s Crown Point Press. By painting acid directly onto prepared plates, Diebenkorn achieved watery swathes of color, such as the blue and green that dominate this composition. High Green, Version I is from Diebenkorn’s final project with Crown Point Press, made shortly before his death.

Diebenkorn spoke about the impact of viewing the American West from a low-flying plane, remarking that the landscape’s abstract structure “had so many things I wanted in my [art].” He often incorporated abstractions of such arial landscapes into his work. The Bay Area north of San Francisco, where he kept his studio, is likely represented in this print with a green, triangular jetty projecting out into a blue expanse of water.

Left Diebenkorn in his studio in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, c.1980

Edward Ruscha Zoo, 1969 Medium: Lithograph Sheet Size: 9 5/8 x 11 3/4 inches Printer and publisher: Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc., Los Angeles, California Edition: 20, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Engberg 23 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin

SUSAN SHEEHAN GALLERY 136 East 16th Street New York, NY 10003 Tel: 1-212 489-3331 info@susansheehangallery.com www.susansheehangallery.com