Japanese Woodblock Print, dated 1969, 1st edition, pencil signed and numbered 19/450

SIZE IN INCHES: 14.2 x 10.5 inches

COMMENTS: In his youth, Clifton Karhu studied with Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the American cofounder of Synchromism, an early abstract, color-based mode of painting, which was the first American avant-garde art movement to receive international attention. From his studies with Macdonald-Wright, Karhu developed a fascination with color. Like Macdonald-Wright, Karhu believed color was an active character in painting. Though Macdonald-Wright advocated for abstraction, Karhu used color in unorthodox and innovative ways to accentuate the representational subject and put it into a different context so as to free up old associations and present it fresh and in revolutionary ways.

Commissioned by Continental Trailways Bus System/Holiday Inns for the commemoration of the establishment of their subsidiary in Japan, this design represents the new space age and perhaps honors the first humans to walk on the moon, a feat accomplished the very year this print was produced. If we consider Karhu's body of work, this design may very well be his only work of abstraction. Moreover, this particular impression was never framed, and was stored in an archival box which maintained its pristine condition, thus making this work that much more desirable to Karhu collectors or fans of abstraction.

VG, no flws