The Other Side of the Alley by John Coleman

The Other Side of the Alley by John Coleman

The Other Side of the Alley

John Coleman

Title

The Other Side of the Alley

 
Artist
Year
c. 1955  
Technique
etching 
Image Size
7 3/4 x 12" platemark 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
1/15 (?) 
Annotations
pencil titled & editioned 
Reference
 
Paper
 
State
 
Publisher
 
Inventory ID
MASC142 
Price
SOLD
Description

Despite his lack of recognition in the art world, the work of John Ery Coleman is exemplary of American Abstract Expressionism, his early works especially drawing on the non-representational experimentation seen in the major workshops of San Francisco and elsewhere in the 1950s.

After his stint in the Second World War Coleman traveled to Mexico to study under Isidoro Ocampo in Mexico City, perhaps at the Taller de Grafica Popular. He then traveled to Paris to study intaglio printmaking with Johnny Friedlaender. Coleman's output at this time exhibited the delicate precision he learned in Friedlaender's studio in particular, achieving subtle tonality and texture on the plate, as seen in "The Other Side of the Alley".

It is likely that Coleman rubbed shoulders with members of the San Francisco School as he exhibited in various location throughout the Bay Area in the 1950s.