ARTIST: Joel Bass (1942-2019)
TITLE: 008 Lead (36)
DATE: "1974 Aug 2"
STYLE: Modernism, Minimalism
DESCRIPTION: An austere and beautiful 1970s etching from LA modernist Joel Bass. Angled rectangles of etched blue and gray lines, offset with overlapping lead rectangles. The etching is surprising heavy (due to the lead) and has a very strong presence. I have a second etching from the same series listed separately.
PERIOD: Mid-century modern
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES: Ink and lead sheets on paper, sold unframed
SIGNATURE: "J.B. Bass"
LABELING: Titled, dated, numbered 20/25 and signed in pencil across bottom. Also stamped "Crown Point Press, Jeryl Parker"
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, CA
CONDITION: A few dings/ bends in paper, faint discoloration around edges, old tape residue on back, other normal age
DIMENSIONS: Plate 15 3/8" by 23 3/4," paper 20 3/8" X 28 1/4"
BIOGRAPHY:
From the artist's website:
Born in Los Angeles on December 23, 1942, to Ethel and Herbert Bass, Joel Bass attended the Art Center College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Tours France, and the University of Southern California School of Business. A lifelong accomplished artist, he was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts on two occasions, in 1979 and 1987. His artwork is a part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of Art, in New York; National Museum of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, Berkeley Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of Art, Otis College of Art and Design, in California; the Fort Worth Art Center, in Texas; the Des Moines Art Center, in Iowa; and the Greenville Center for Art, in North Carolina.
"An artist active from the 1960’s through 1980’s on the New York, Paris and Los Angeles art scenes, my husband, Joel Bass, died on February 5th 2019. The day before his memorial service on July 5, 2019 an article appeared in the New York Times entitled, “Where Does Major American Art Come From? Mapping the Whitney Biennial” in this piece Joel is noted as one of the major American Artists of the last century. Peter Plagens, in a 1974 piece that appeared in Artforum wrote of Joel, “But it occurred to Joel Bass that just four parts – the elemental grid – could function as well as three dozen; so he narrowed it down and, in 1969 – 70, arrived at his ‘trademark’ colored grid...Bass’ pictures are austere, subtle, economical and knowledgeable, but in their openness, they admit to the slipperiness of the whole problem of ‘straight’ abstract painting.” Writing for Artweek in 1984, Lorna Carlin saw Joel’s work in this way, “His first solo in 1970 already demonstrated an acumen in working through format problems, and over the past decade, he has remained tenaciously aligned with the challenge of creating art through the intellect, rather than abstracting from nature.”
-Lisa Bass, wife of the artist
[ p e n c i l p o i n t e r >
SHIPPING: Free within the United States via USPS Parcel Select.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: Usually available; please inquire.
SELLER: Experienced and friendly, offering excellent service. Please contact me with any questions.