Untitled (dark abstraction)

Roy De Forest

This scarce early California Abstract Expressionis lithograph was done around 1953 when De Forest was studying at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The lithography classes were taught by James Budd Dixon and included other California Abstract Expressionsts, such as Sonia Gechtoff, James Kelly, Julius Wasserstein, Deborah Remington and David Simpson.

The experimental nature of the CSFA lithography classes are excellently described in David Acton's book "The Stamp of Impulse: Abstract Expressionist Prints."

All the students and teachers shared the same stones, which were printed to the edge, hence the rough edges which can be identified in other printmakers works. Though the stones were ground down after each image was finished, usually in five or fewer proofs. There occasionally will appear a slight "ghost" image from a previous printing.