ICONS A N D M US E S
t o m รก s l a s an s ky I C O N S AN D M U S E S
This book is dedicated to my mother and father, Emilia and Mauricio.
Mauricio Lasansky The Artist & His Wife, Emilia Barragan, 199 4 Color Intaglio 66 Ă— 36 in. Collection: Lasansky Corporation
NOTE: This page not yet complete. All image captions not found with image should be moved here
Copyright © 2010 Four Peaks Press Foreword copyright © 2010 William Webster Tomás Lasansky – Points of View copyright © 2010 Joseph S. Czestochowski A Son’s Perspective copyright © 2010 Rory Lasansky All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief articles embodied in critical articles and reviews. Published by Four Peaks Press PO Box 124 Iowa City, IA 52244-0124. Library of Congress Control Number: 2009942147 isbn: 978-0-98258-350-0
First Printing Printed at Toppan Leefung Printing Ltd. in China
Cover image: Portrait at Twenty-one #25, 1979
Color Intaglio 24 × 19 in. (Plate 1)
Front endleaf: Tomás in his studio with American Dignity works in progress, 2004 photo by char lie emmert lasansk y
page i: Tomás in his studio, 2006 photo by phillip lasansk y
page ii: Tomás working on Einstein in Space, 2008 photo by char lie emmert lasansk y
Back endleaf: Tomás in his studio with models, 2006 photo by phillip lasansk y
ac k n ow l e d g m e n t s
We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the collectors and museums that provided information and lent their work to be photographed. Our gratitude is also extended to the following individuals whose advice and assistance have made this book possible: William F. Blair, Bill Faust, Vicki & Keith Fuquay, Jane Haslem, Ashley Herny, Polly Larsen, Diego Lasansky, Emiliano Lasansky, Jimena Lasansky, Lori Lasansky, Rory Lasansky, Jay Magidson, Adam Rake, Joycelyn & Richard Degener, and William Webster. For their continued support through the years, we especially thank: Joseph A. Bisignano Elizabeth & Matthew Busick Debra & Joseph S. Czestochowski Jeffrey DeForest Davis Deanna & Richard Gale Carrie & Andy Graham Jennifer & Ambassador Charles Larson Gillian & Josh Lederman
LaDonna & Rich Matthes Maureen & Jim Mondanaro Marci & Terry Nelson Wicker & William Van Orsdel Polly & Armond Pagliai Ann & Mike Richards Cinde & Phillip Shive Karen Slifka
Great appreciation to my wife, Charlie Emmert Lasansky, for her constant support, our years of artistic exchange, and the honest eye she brings to my work. A special thank you to my brother Phillip Lasansky, who has offered invaluable insight and counsel for more than thirty years. Grateful acknowledgment is made to master printmaker Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti for his exceptional work edition-printing the four etchings shown below that accompany the first three hundred and forty hand-numbered and signed copies of this book.
con t e n t s
Foreword by William Webster · xi Tomás Lasansky – Points of View by Joseph S. Czestochowski · xiv A Son’s Perspective by Rory Lasansky · xxiii Color Plates · 1 Selected Chronology · 189 Selected Collections · 195 Selected Exhibition History · 197 Catalogue Raisonné of Published Prints · 201
Tomรกs in his studio with American Dignity works in progress, 2004
F OR E WOR D
The thread of modern Western art history may be traced from the avant-garde in Paris during the final quarter of the nineteenth century, through the fin de siècle in Vienna and post–World War II New York. One might be surprised to find the small, midwestern town of Iowa City, Iowa, included within this scenario. However, on the basis of its historic concentration of serious artistic and intellectual talent in the twentieth century, I would certainly include it. In particular, the art of Tomás Lasansky over the course of the past half-century has earned its own place at the table of significant twentieth century art. I was born in Iowa City in 1937, in the midst of a hotbed of artistic and intellectual ferment. I grew up next door to Gustav Bergman, the famous Viennese logical positivist, two blocks from where Grant Wood lived and worked, and the same distance from the Lasansky family home. While Iowa City was small by any standard, with its mere population of some 25,000, the University of Iowa sustained a cultural vibrancy in the city that was indeed greater than its population would indicate. Other luminaries from that time who came to enjoy international reputations were Paul Engle, who began the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Dr. James Van Allen, who discovered the Van Allen radiation belts, and Tomás’s father, Mauricio Lasansky, founder of the Iowa Print Group. By the time Tomás was born in 1957, the zeitgeist of creative excellence that was in the air extended directly into his family life. Tomás, the youngest of six artistic children, was trained at the knee of his father, Mauricio Lasansky, arguably the greatest printmaker and art educator of his generation. Following in the age-old tradition of artistic families, the father imparted to his son the meticulous skills and disciplines of his craft, imbuing Tomás with a natural fluency and mastery of drawing evident from his earliest works. His first major work, the self-portrait intaglio print, Portrait at Twenty-one, displays a confident young man who has placed himself in a somewhat serious and traditional pose, but an unbounded exuberance beams from his eyes, lips, and statically charged hair. He looks at us as if to announce his artistic prowess and independence, as well as the promise of much more to come. From this first work, Tomás has created art that is instantly recognizable within the traditions of printmaking, drawing, and painting. I first came upon Tomás’s work in the late 1970s while on a trip to visit my parents in Iowa City. At the time, I was living in Philadelphia, well within my tenure as a professor of aesthetic theory at the school that would become the University of the Arts. I was immediately taken with the depth and sensitivity of his work. His studio was
xi
filled with drawings of models that may be characterized as distinctly Klimt-like. In true Klimtian fashion, the work’s craft aspects were impeccable – the drawing exquisite, the color perfectly balanced and nuanced. And most importantly, the drawings exuded that rich, Freudian eroticism of which Gustav Klimt was the ultimate master. These early works of Tomás Lasansky are really quite breathtaking. And they were especially rare for their time – the early 1980s, when postmodern theory was rapidly taking hold of the art world, and the aesthetic dimension of art was on the decline. This treatment of the human subject was virtually abandoned in the second half of the twentieth century, even by those artists who remained influential to Tomás: Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol. Even Pablo Picasso, when he was not completely abstracting his subject matter, was redefining the nature of the portrait, as in the famous case when he said of his portrait of Gertrude Stein, “Everybody says that she does not look like it, but that does not make any difference, she will.” And she has ever since. Yet, even in the face of this shift, Tomás remained committed to the psychic poignancy and emotional intensity of his subjects and captured this dimension of human experience in his powerful portrait works. When viewed in the context of postmodernism, Tomás’s work can be seen as representing the end of an artistic era that commenced some one hundred fifty years ago. Without belaboring the specific details of the plethora of negatives embodied within the postmodern movement, suffice it to say that it has abandoned virtually all of the aesthetic dimensions that have carried artistic value in Western art since the Renaissance. These losses are not insignificant and include the dismissal of history, the technique of craft, emotion, medium, discipline, artistic paradigms, and subject matter. But Tomás remains an artist’s artist, approaching art from the inside out, much in the tradition of Picasso, who is clearly a strong influence. Central here is the importance he places upon an intense discipline to the technique in which he is working, whatever the medium. I have always regarded Tomás’s technical facility, virtuosity, and curiosity as comparable to Picasso as well. One of the potent values of Tomás’s work is that it is highly aestheticized; it is indeed beautiful work. The aesthetic nature of his work directly challenges the wisdom of postmodernism’s departure from such traditions. This book is the first comprehensive collection of Tomás Lasansky’s work. As we peruse its pages, we are offered an opportunity to see what that young artist from Portrait at Twenty-one has accomplished. We can only wonder if art’s historical pendulum will swing back in the direction of the aesthetic, but to be sure, the work collected here represents a substantial contribution made within an aesthetic tradition of artistic creation and experience that has held sway for millennia. Tomás Lasansky’s work has enriched both my life and, more importantly, the lives of many of my students over the decades. This book, like his young self-portrait, continues to promise much more work to come.
William Webster
x ii
After You, 1987
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 40 Ă— 60 in. Collection: William Webster
Tom ás LaSANSKY POI N TS OF V I EW For more than twenty-five years, Tomás Lasansky has been a highly respected and widely collected artist. He is accomplished as a draftsman, printmaker, and painter. While exceedingly meticulous in his technique, Lasansky has also been prodigious. From 1979 through 2010, he has produced more than two thousand works in a variety of media, including intaglio prints, drawings, and, most notably, paintings. As an individual, Tomás Lasansky is a study in contrasts. To those who know him, he is gregarious, but he also guards his privacy and treasures his time alone. His ease in engaging with others often seems to counter his extraordinary discipline and focus as a practitioner of his craft. Even the most cursory review of his work reveals an artist with an almost obsessive pursuit of a theme that embraces the individual. The commonplace aspects of his subjects coexist with the heroic, resulting in convincing contributions to the iconography of American art history and its vitality. Tomás Lasansky brings an exquisite ability for draftsmanship and remarkable technical expertise to his subject matter. His fields and depth of color are masterful, and his use of negative space in compositions is inspirational. These aspects of his technique have changed considerably in his works from 1979 to 2010, providing us with a sense of the accomplishments yet to come. There is an aesthetic distinction in his growth as an artist and craftsman that reflects strong personal integrity in his growth as an individual. Since 1980, Lasansky’s works have been included in more than one hundred twenty exhibitions; thirty of them have been one-man shows. His works have been accorded more than forty-five awards and have been acquired by more than forty public collections.1 Tomás Lasansky has forged a distinguished legacy in the history of American art, particularly in its midwestern and southwestern traditions. As a draftsman, he has merged sensitivity for compositional design with personal expression in order to create strong, memorable images. His portraits are intricate personal statements that go well beyond representational realism. Throughout his artistic explorations, Tomás Lasansky’s overriding values have been his family, his work, and his many friendships. It is difficult to separate these facets of his life. His expectations of success have been modest; he has always been grateful for being able simply to draw and paint. At the same time, his personal relationships are as meaningful to him as his art and exert a significant impact upon it. Throughout his work, his primary desire has been to extract the essence of a person, no matter
xiv
how well he knows that individual, an objective that he has admirably achieved. Tomás Lasansky’s training emphasized a meticulous style of drawing. Accurate translation was stressed in his early years instead of expressionistic values, creating an initial approach to drawing that was almost scientific. This penchant for exactitude might explain his attraction to printmaking. One is amazed by the infinite number of ways in which both strong and subtle hues are manipulated in his color plates. A comparison of his works from the late 1970s to the 1980s demonstrates the extent to which his technique was refined early in his career. That evolution continues. He has assiduously worked to achieve carefully toned impressions printed with a concern for light and an atmosphere of the utmost delicacy. The artist has worked with watercolor and pastels for some years and has sought to obtain graded effects similar to those on a copper plate. While it is an almost irresistible temptation to seek in an artist’s early work the germ of a mature style, Lasansky’s artistic evolution presents a strong argument for paying close attention to his later work in its very own context. Lasansky establishes strong compositional contrasts in his subjects, often framing them with a phenomenal use of negative space. Simultaneously, he intimates a discerning quality of elusiveness. His works are distinguished by the following key characteristics: extensive detail that concedes to the complete design, spatial expressiveness, and a rich variety of tonal gradations. Invariably, the formal elements of the composition are exquisitely balanced and coalesce through the mysterious light. These special qualities – skill of draftsmanship, a sense of composition, and an accomplished blend of romantic and pragmatic imagery – distinguish Lasansky’s past and present endeavors. Tomás Lasansky must of course be considered in the context of his very distinguished family of artists. This perspective surpasses close bonds, shared sensibilities, and artistic skill. The influences are both numerous and inevitable, and his subjects are often family members who surround him daily. But Tomás has both accepted and rebelled against the familial aesthetic. This duality defines his early artistic development and his very successful pursuit of new and original directions. So while his family continues to play a key role in forming his vision, he has clearly moved into his own realm. During the past fifty years, a great deal has been written about Tomás’s father, the artist Mauricio Lasansky and his singular achievements as an individual, artist, and teacher. Comprehension of Mauricio Lasansky’s impact requires deep study of his works, which should be embraced not only as powerful images, but also as expressions of an individual’s search for truth. We will always be indebted to him for the passion that created The Nazi Drawings, his haunting España, and the technical tour-de-force of his Woman with Lute or Quetzalcoatl. As viewers, we are also indebted to his wife, Emilia Barragan Lasansky, for her personal contributions are an integral part of Mauricio Lasansky’s work and that of every family member.2 Mauricio Lasansky is well-known for his influential teaching at the University of Iowa, his innovative work as a printmaker, his response to Abstract Expressionism, and his legacy as an individual creating self-portraits and tender, intimate works
xv
depicting his Emilia and their six children. Lasansky has described himself as an artist whose work reflects his belief in people and who depicts them both suffering life’s horrors and exalting in its joys. The artist has commented that “the universe is concentrated in a human being. . . . A picture is like people – an accumulation of different moments at one time.”3 These considerations direct us to the role of Tomás Lasansky as he exemplifies the tradition of the multigenerational family in American art history. In the United States, this artistic tradition dates back to the eighteenth century with the Peale family.⁴ The Peales were joined in the nineteenth century by the incredibly gifted engravers, the Sartains, and soon by the equally talented painters in the Inness family, the Morans, the Weirs, and others.⁵ In the twentieth century, the Peales’ mantle was passed to the Wyeths. The entire Wyeth family is known for an ability to observe and draw upon their life experiences to create universal themes. One critic commented, “The Wyeths . . . for three generations . . . adhered to a family tradition . . . painting outside the mainstream of contemporary art.”⁶ To their accomplishments must be added those of the Soyers, the three generations of Calders, and the artistic unions of the Sloans and the Averys, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler, and April Gornik and Eric Fischl, among many others.⁷ Family was, for all of these artists, a predominant, lifelong source of inspiration. Tomás Lasansky, his work, and his family constitute a twenty-first-century chapter of this familial tradition of American art. One family member in particular, Charlie Emmert Lasansky, Tomás’s partner of many years, exhibits qualities in her work that parallel Tomás’s; in the same way, Tomás’s work has been greatly influenced by Charlie’s. In fact, through this relationship Tomás Lasansky became enthralled with the expressive potential of painting. Indeed, he credits her with introducing him to the medium. At the same time, there is no question that both artists are creating distinctly individual statements. Tomás Lasansky has pursued his craft with a clear sense that he is breaking ground by being genuinely innovative and redirecting the public’s attention to the human figure and its surroundings. With the exception of a few early works reflecting family aesthetics, Tomás has moved quickly in distinctive new directions in both subject matter and technique. As such, his works are remarkable examples of the persistence of earlier themes and individual expressions of the ongoing quest for a valid American figurative iconography. The special potential for expression that Tomás Lasansky has realized in the etching needle and paintbrush has an attraction that transcends all other concerns. Simply stated, the prints, drawings, and especially the paintings are close to the soul of the artist; they reveal his gestures, his private delights, and his freshest ideas. The artist’s clear accomplishments as a painter, ranging from his iconographic subject matter to the depth of his color and effective use of negative space, also distinguish his work from others’. The artist’s personal involvement with his subject matter further enhances his
xvi
work. The portraits are well-articulated, persuasive images. They are not only visually attractive, but they are also compelling psychological portraits, intimating the inner life of the subject. Further, they are executed in a style that is at once very traditional and very contemporary. In summary, Tomás Lasansky is a humanist who has created eloquent, visual statements that are fresh, sensitive, pragmatic, and romantic. His classic images of Native American subjects epitomize these sentiments. The works of Tomás Lasansky, with few exceptions, eschew any hint of nostalgia and strive to be chronicles of present observations. As a result, these works project a convincing sense of place and time, as well as of the individual – past, present, and future. Many of his subjects, particularly in the most recent paintings, have a subtle romanticism that suggests both permanence and transition. Ultimately, they are intended to be readily meaningful to the viewer, evoking an immediate response. Writers might be tempted to compare Tomás Lasansky’s figurative works to the undisputed accomplishments of such artists as Anders Zorn, Paul Helleu, and perhaps the influential Iowa printmaker Emil Ganso, among others. Aspects of his Native American imagery might bring to mind the work of George Catlin, the almost ethnographic lithography of Ira Moskowitz, and the striking expressionistic paintings of Fritz Scholder.⁸ But however apt, these comparisons miss many of the essential qualities of Lasansky’s artistic evolution. Throughout his life, Tomás Lasansky has continued to convey his strong sense of time and the singular importance of the moment. The entire Lasansky family is known for an ability to observe and draw upon their own life experiences to create works that inspire us to view our own lives more clearly. Tomás Lasansky has already built substantially and successfully upon this tradition to forge important new ground. Poetic beauty and technical distinction remain the chief attributes of Tomás Lasansky’s prowess. Of greatest importance is the absolutely personal originality of his work. Lasansky is an accomplished draftsman who displays an extraordinary sensitivity to his subject matter, color, and composition. To this seemingly natural ability, he applies a vivid imagination and design sensibility, while maintaining a preference for realism, even in the aftermath of a more abstract expressionism. He has demonstrated a tremendous capacity to grow as an artist, technician, and person. This observation is verified by the current exhibition and publication, in which we are offered the opportunity to view a compelling display of work spanning the period from 1979 to 2010. From the shifting expressions on a child’s face or the provocative tilt of a woman’s chin, to the resolute splendor of a Native American chief in all his finery, Tomás Lasansky’s work is the matrix for the expression of his art and his being. It is a deep pleasure to examine and enjoy what Tomás Lasansky has to say about both our collective and personal experiences, as viewed from his private perspective, time, and place. Today, with the passage of more than thirty years and an exceptional record of accomplishment, it has been firmly established that Tomás Lasansky represents a new generation, a new direction, in a family of gifted individuals in the history of American art.
Joseph S. Czestochowski
x v ii
top: A photo of Mauricio Lasansky pulling the print Thomas featured in the Iowa City Press Citizen, 1962 above: Tomรกs pulling a print of Lincoln at his studio, 2009
Notes 1 Further details about Tomás Lasansky can be located at www.lasanskystudio.com. 2 Joseph S. Czestochowski, “Mauricio Lasansky – An Artistic Life,” Expressions XIV, Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Community College, 21–25. 3 Ibid., 23. 4 The Peales were unquestionably the first to establish a family dynasty of American art. Charles Willson Peale led a remarkable life. With his large and gifted family of seventeen children, the Peales dominated Philadelphia artistic conventions from the end of the eighteenth century through the next hundred years. Charles Wilson Peale (1741–1827), James Peale (1749–1831), Charles Peale Polk (1767–1822), Raphaelle Peale (1774–1825), Rembrandt Peale (1778–1860), Rubens Peale (1784–1865), Margaretta Angelica Peale (1793–1882), Titian Ramsay Peale (1799–1885), and Sarah Miriam Peale (1800–1885). Edgar P. Richardson, Brooke Hindle, Lillian B. Miller, Charles Wilson Peale and His World, New York, Abrams, 1982. 5 John Sartain (1808–1897), Samuel Sartain (1830–1906), Emily Sartain (1841–1927), William Sartain (1843–1924), Henry Sartain (1833–1895); George Inness (1825–1894), George Inness Jr. (1854–1926); Benjamin Champney (1817–1907), James Wells Champney (1843–1903); Elliott Daingerfield (1859– 1932); Thomas Moran (1837–1926), Edward Moran (1829–1901), Peter Moran (1841–1914), Mary Nimmo Moran (1842–1899), among others; Robert Walter Weir (1803–1889), John Ferguson Weir (1841–1926), J. Alden Weir (1852–1919); among others, Carleton Wiggins (1848–1932), Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883–1962). 6 Susan Lubowsky, Four American Families – A Tradition of Artistic Pursuit, Stamford, CT., Whitney Museum of American Art, 11 November 1983– 11 January 1984. Noah D. Meadows, The Wyeths and Other First Families in American Art, Marietta, Georgia, Marietta/Cobb Fine Arts Center, 1982. Within the Wyeth family, one must consider not only N. C., Andrew, and Jamie, but also Andrew’s sisters, Carolyn and Henriette, who was married to the accomplished painter, Peter Hurd. N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945), Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009), Carolyn Wyeth (1909–1994), Henriette Wyeth (1909– 1997), Peter Hurd (1904–1984), Jamie Wyeth (1946–). 7 Raphael Soyer (1899–1987), Moses Soyer (1899–1975), Isaac Soyer (1907– 1981); Alexander Milne Calder (1846–1923), Alexander Stirling Calder (1870–1945), Alexander Calder (1898–1976); John Sloan (1871–1951), Helen Farr Sloan (1911–2005); Milton Avery (1885–1965), Sally Michel Avery (1902–2003); Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946); Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Lee Krasner (1908–1984); Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), Elaine de Kooning (1920–1989); Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), Helen Frankenthaler (1928–); April Gornik (1953–), Eric Fischl (1948–). 8 Anders Zorn (1860–1920), Paul Helleu (1859–1927), Emil Ganso (1895– 1941), George Catlin (1796–1872), Ira Moskowitz (1912–2001), Fritz Scholder (1937–2005).
xix
Mauricio Lasansky Thomas, 1962
Color intaglio 42 x 19 in. Collection: Tomรกs Lasansky
Charlie Emmert Lasansky Tomás, 1997 Oil on paper 35 × 36 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
Charlie Emmert Lasansky Portrait of an Artist, 1997 Oil on paper 35 × 36 in. Collection: Elizabeth and Matthew Busick
Tomรกs in his studio at work on Rory & Jane photo by david tr awick
a son ’ s pe r s pec t i v e
Tomás Lasansky seals himself off from the outside world by drawing the blinds and locking the doors of his Iowa City warehouse studio. When the artist is alone he works for numerous days in succession, etching plates, drawing and painting under the fluorescent lights. When fully engaged, he can work for hours on end without stopping, physically manipulating his unfinished portraits with drypoint needles, burins, pencils, or paintbrushes. With no clocks on the wall or watch on his wrist, Lasansky loses track of time and routinely works through the night without noticing. He scrutinizes the compositions of larger paintings and drawings from across the room, cigarette in hand. If the artist isn’t satisfied with the image, he leaves his smoke burning in a tray and keeps working, unable to disconnect from the struggle. Typically, however, these fervent sessions are tremendously productive. Several works may come to fruition before Lasansky collapses into a slumber. When he sleeps, it’s usually on the couch, in the clothes he worked in – a T-shirt and jeans or karate pants, covered with different colors of acrylic paint from wiping his hands and palette knives clean. Small droplets of pigment even adhere to his face and strands of his long, unruly hair. The entire process, as spontaneous as it may sound, is actually quite formulaic. These short, impassioned bursts of creative output have become, over the years, an integral part of Lasansky’s working routine, enabling the artist to create a vast oeuvre of paintings, prints, and drawings that continues to expand. As the artist’s son, during the last twenty years I’ve been privileged to witness the
Tomás in his studio, 2009
Tomás in his studio, 2006
x x iii
Tomás Lasansky, Ceramic Platter with Figures, 1977 William Lasansky’s sculpture, El Cid, prior to being removed from the basement of the Lasansky family home, Iowa City, 1964 A childhood drawing by Tomás inspired by William’s sculpture, El Cid, 1964
gradual evolution of his work from an intimate perspective. I’ve seen blank canvases on the easel turn into portraits of Geronimo and Sitting Bull, drawings of models in costume pinned to the wall, and nearly every print that’s been pulled away from the press. Since the turn of the century, the artist’s portraits have become more complex in color and larger in size, and he has painted with a greater regularity than ever before. To fully appreciate this progression, it is absolutely crucial to recognize and understand even minor transitions. For precisely this reason, the reproductions in this book have been ordered chronologically. They illustrate technical alterations as well as changes in subject matter and media that have developed over time into distinct periods. In the text that follows, I’ve put forth a brief account of my father’s family background, the formative years, and his current pursuits, in order to allow the reader to become more conversant with the artist, how he works, and what he creates. Tomás Lasansky was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on the last day of August in 1957. His mother, Emilia Barragan Lasansky, though not an artist by title, descended from a family of noted Argentine painters and Spanish sculptors. Tomás’s father, Mauricio Lasansky, was a pioneer in the art of printmaking. He founded the Iowa Print Group at the University of Iowa, which devoted itself to exploring and teaching the expressive possibilities of the graphic arts. At home my grandmother took care of Tomás and his five older brothers and sisters while my grandfather was drawing and working plates in his private studio. At family dinners over the years, I heard stories recounted about my father’s home when he was a child. He and his brothers and sisters pursued their own creative interests, and at times effectively converted every room in the house – including bathrooms and the kitchen – into a studio or stage. Tomás would draw with colored pencils and crayons while his siblings were throwing pots, sculpting with wax and metal, writing and dancing. He drew the wooden African masks and sculptures from his father’s collection and the bullfighting scenes from the Picasso and Goya prints that hung on the wall. The young artist also carefully studied his father’s work and, like Mauricio, used the children in the family as subjects for his portraits, drawing them whenever they would agree to pose. As the youngest member in a family of artists, Tomás developed an appreciation for a variety of media as valid forms of self-expression. If he didn’t have a pencil in hand, he was typically hunched over a spinning pottery wheel and a mound of wet clay, throwing pots. He incised drawings into the wet or leather-hard surface of his bowls, plates, and pitchers, as a printmaker would do on copper. He also painted the wares with slip and glaze, adorning the most aesthetically pleasing forms with elegant figures and portraits. William, Tomás’s eldest brother and twenty years his senior, was exceptionally persuasive early on. He actually introduced Tomás to the technical aspects of pounding steel, casting, and working with clay. In the late sixties, prior to accepting a teaching position at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, William sculpted an enormous steel sculpture of an armored horse and rider entitled El Cid. Tomás watched his brother construct this particular piece in the basement workshop and even helped tear out a window in order to remove it from the house. The experience left a lasting impression on the young artist. The few extant
xxv
Tomรกs Lasansky Portrait at Twenty-one, 1979 (see plate 1)
Mauricio Lasansky Thomas WS, 1968
Color intaglio 29 x 18.5 in. Collection: Lasansky Corporation
drawings from Tomás’s childhood portray armies of armored soldiers on horseback that bear a resemblance to his brother’s work. The effect Tomás’s siblings had on his early artistic development was significant and certainly worth mentioning. It would be inaccurate, however, to call my grandfather’s influence or the guidance he offered his son anything but paramount. Tomás learned from Mauricio, one of the preeminent printmaking professors in the country, the methods and intricacies specific to intaglio – a technique in which images are engraved, scored, or etched into metal plates and printed with a press. Naturally Tomás’s education was hands-on, and he became well-versed in the language of the craft by helping his father edition prints. He thoroughly enjoyed prepping plates for a run through the press, rolling ink over the gouged and hollowed surface, and wiping it clean with a wadded mass of softened tarlatan. Nothing excited him more than the moment Mauricio would bring an image to light by lifting the felts and delicately peeling the new print away from the plate. Tomás was fascinated by the process, and with all the necessary implements at his disposal, it wasn’t long before he began making his own marks on sheets of polished copper. Tomás’s first successful intaglio print, entitled Portrait at Twenty-one, which came to fruition many years after he was first introduced to the medium, is often viewed as an undeniable link between father and son and the family aesthetic. From the sloping shoulders to the intentional darkening of the eyes, the print bears all the characteristics of my grandfather’s work. It’s the conspicuity of influence, however, that makes this particular portrait significant. After its completion, never again would Tomás’s work so closely resemble Mauricio’s. In subsequent prints, as Tomás began to mature artistically and develop his own style, the influence becomes exceedingly less pronounced. Interestingly, the artist purposely rendered his own likeness over what was originally planned to be a portrait of his parents. If the piece is viewed upside down, an outline of Emilia and Mauricio can still be seen. By leaving these lines visible in the background, Tomás comments simultaneously on the importance of his father’s teachings and his own inevitable coming of age. In the late seventies, Tomás moved out of his family’s house because he needed his own space in which to work while pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts at the University of Iowa. He rented the basement of an old Victorian house near campus to use as a studio. Although Tomás continued to throw pots throughout college and experimented briefly with oil painting, his focus eventually turned almost entirely to printmaking and drawing. He borrowed money from his family to cover a few months’ rent and to buy a steel electric press. He set up the two-ton machine in the cramped quarters of his somber studio and was able to pay off his loans with money earned from selling prints of Portrait at Twenty-one. Tomás also had an easel situated beneath a strong, naked bulb and invited many people, usually women, into the studio to pose. My father worked day and night and even skipped class on occasion to draw. To this day he is passionate about working with live models and continues to do so regularly. The basement sessions, however, were essential to the artist developing his own style. For every two or three works ripped up and discarded out of frustration, there was one
x x v ii
Tomรกs Lasansky She-bob (detail), 1984 (see plate 24)
Tomรกs Lasansky Rory at Seven (detail), 1990 (see plate 58)
Tomรกs Lasansky Mandy, Morgan & Rory, 1995 (see plate 98)
piece set aside in a drawer or portfolio. Over time, through trial and error, Lasansky’s line became more fluid and methodical. In a drawing entitled She-bob, it is possible to see how my father’s familiarity with working the malleable surface of unfired ceramic pieces and copper plates enabled him to use lines as opposed to shaded tones of color to construct depth and shape. For example, the bridge of the nose and the roundness of the cheeks and forehead are created by the gentle curve of lines spanning the width of the face. Fine, parallel, running lines became a hallmark of Lasansky’s drawing technique. He started manipulating the sharpened tip of a pencil to produce form on paper just as he would use a drypoint needle to do so on copper. Tomás discovered original ways to distinguish his own aesthetic from that of his father’s. Although this departure was necessary, a link between my father’s and grandfather’s work will always remain. Tomás respected my grandfather’s eye, valued his opinion, and sought his approval. He received his most memorable and encouraging critique during a show in the early 1990s when the first Rory portraits were unveiled. When Mauricio took one look at Rory at Seven, the earliest drawing of me wearing red long johns, a jacket, and bowler hat, he turned to his son and said simply that the piece was “magic.” He could sense immediately that the work had come from the heart and knew firsthand that a father puts something of himself into a portrait of his son. The praise inspired a whole series of drawings and prints of me and other children. As I grew older, the costumes and props changed. There were portraits of me in my karate outfits and Little League baseball uniforms. I remember posing with our pet cat in my arms, a violin under my chin, or paintbrushes in my hands. In fact, we never maintained a traditional photo album. Instead of taking a picture of me, my father would draw one. When cousins visited from out of town, we would model for my parents together as a group. The little girls would be dressed as ballerinas and the boys as harlequins. These drawings of me and other children were sought after, and many people commissioned portraits of their own sons and daughters. The demand provided Tomás with the means to live off his work as he established himself as a serious artist on the regional scene. My mother, Charlie Emmert Lasansky, who is also an artist, is undoubtedly Tomás’s greatest muse and favored subject. In terms of style, these artists were poles apart when they met. My mother studied the work of Chaim Soutine, Oskar Kokoschka, and Paul Cézanne, and used color in her expressionistic portraits to intimate the inner being of the subject. Tomás was dedicated to studying the master draftsmen and engravers, such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingre, Hans Holbein, and Claude Mellan and their realistic interpretations of the human figure. One of Tomás’s works that best characterizes my parents’ unique relationship is a drawing entitled The Wedding. In this double portrait, Tomás and my mother are situated standing adjacent to each other in the foreground. The tinted fruit on the platter and the apple in Tomás’s hand that connects them represent a continual exchange of contrasting ideas and techniques. It’s important to note that Tomás purposely depicted the couple gazing off in opposite directions, signifying the artists’ ability to borrow from each other while remaining faithful to their own artistic visions. Without this ongoing, artistic dialogue, the
xxix
Tomรกs Lasansky The Wedding, 1991 (see plate 66)
Tomรกs Lasansky Lincoln in Red, 2007 (see plate 252)
union between my parents would surely spoil. Traditionally they move forward and flourish by assimilating elements of each other’s styles – often without any intention of doing so – into their own respective works. Roughly ten years ago, Tomás started painting seriously for the first time since the mid-1980s. The paintings finished prior to the hiatus have a smooth finish, the result of working exclusively with brushes and spreading pigment in thin, uniform layers across the picture plane. Recently, however, due in part to my mother’s influence, the way in which Tomás applies color to canvas has significantly changed. He prefers a textured surface now as opposed to a smooth one and, like Charlie, tends to use a palette knife to model and mix paint squeezed directly from the tube. My parents’ work often overlaps in subject matter, too. For example, they have both executed many portraits of me as a child, portraits of each other, and portraits of visual icons such as Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln. A visit to the gallery connected to Tomás’s studio, however, reveals that after more than twenty years of collaboration, the recent works as well as the artists themselves remain astonishingly divergent from one another. Of particular interest are Tomás’s acrylic, ink-splatter paintings of the aforementioned icons. Tomás was able to produce recognizable portraits, as opposed to an abstract mishmash of ink droplets, by developing an innovative way to restrict the splatter of ink across the picture plane. The procedure entails the creation of handcut paper templates, each with the same dimensions, which expose and protect different yet specific areas of the composition. One template affixed with tape, for instance, would expose Lincoln’s overcoat, while another would leave only the background visible. Ink flicked off a brush that passes through the cut-out portion of a template becomes part of the image. In turn, the same template acts as a resist, soaking up any ink that misses the mark. The portrait nears completion after all the templates have been used in successive order. This inventive technique, inspired in part by Jackson Pollock’s pioneering drip paintings, is based on Tomás’s experience with color intaglio printmaking. To produce a print of several colors, for example, an artist will often work several plates and subject the paper to as many impressions. Where the paper templates have been cut is the equivalent to where they would be inked if they were worked plates. What is most impressive about the technique is that the brush rarely makes contact with the actual portrait, aside from minor touch-ups and when Tomás uses it to sign his name. As with his series of splatter paintings, Lasansky generally chooses to work in multiples. Rarely will he create just one image of any subject. This manner of working is a fundamental component of his approach to the creative process that stems once again from his early experience with ceramics and printmaking. Initially, both media required Lasansky to work in multiples, but it was the process of producing “states” in printmaking that had the greatest effect. In the course of enhancing a print, an artist will produce many states, each denoting a distinct stage in the development of the final piece. The artist will often draw or collage on top of these states to determine what marks need to be made on the actual plates. Although the modified prints are often vastly different from one another, they all remain rooted to the same source image.
xxxi
Tomรกs Lasansky Vision I, 2007 (see plate 255)
Tomรกs Lasansky Spirit of Sitting Bull, 2007 (see plate 256)
Tomรกs Lasansky Vision of Sitting Bull, 2007 (see plate 257)
Lasansky has applied this concept to his paintings and drawings as well. He simulates working on top of a printed state as opposed to a blank canvas or sheet of paper, by bringing each new portrait in a series to a preconceived, preliminary stage. For instance, he will choose an early drawing of Geronimo or Sitting Bull and reproduce it as accurately as possible, and use it as the starting point for a new work, affording Lasansky the freedom to experiment with techniques and express new ideas. It also enables him to bestow a subtle, individual character on each successive piece in an ongoing attempt to capture the true essence of his subjects. Since the mid-1990s, my father’s portraiture has been influenced by his enthusiasm for American history and the significant figures of our nation’s past. The preponderance of the work, however, reflects his great respect and admiration for the cultural legacy of the Native American. “Even as a youngster I saw the American Indians as strong, fiercely independent, and loyal to their beliefs and traditions,” Lasansky has said, and as a child he was enthralled by Westerns on television and his father’s collection of handwoven Indian chiefs’ blankets. “Of course, when I learned about their history, the greater my empathy and passion became for their way of life. The insensitivity and injustice that have been perpetuated on these people is a ghost that still lingers for me.” Tomás has always been interested in educating himself about the life and times of the historical icons he chooses to portray. He will often refer to his vast library of books for accurate and relevant information before attempting any portraits. He has familiarized himself with the photography of Edward S. Curtis, the paintings of George Catlin, and the work of contemporary American Indian artists such as T. C. Cannon and Fritz Scholder. Tomás was finally moved to express the strong feelings that underlie his own paintings, prints, and drawings after a chance happening while driving through the Arizona desert during one of his many trips to the Southwest. He sighted a desiccated cow skull half-buried in the red sand that bordered the flat, desolate road. He didn’t stop to examine the bones, but the image was engraved in his memory. When my father returned to his studio, he started drawing fictitious Native Americans. He cut up his old prints to make paper feathers, which he collaged into the drawings to construct elaborate headdresses. The skull from the desert was still in his head. He made sense of how to incorporate it into his own work only after he took me to an exhibition of Mauricio’s Nazi Drawings. In these drawings my grandfather often replaced the soldiers’ helmets with battered human skulls to symbolize the horrific atrocities of the Holocaust. Tomás started adorning his own figures with skulls like the one he had seen on the roadside. This recurring motif has come to represent the systematic and unjust annihilation of Native American cultures by modern society. The imagery illustrates in a straightforward manner how even peoples who once thrived may be buried and forgotten in the desert sand. Recently it seems each piece my parents finish and hang on the wall becomes a new favorite of mine. Between my father’s series of Founding Father portraits and my mother’s Ballerinas there is no shortage of images to consider. I imagine my father is in his studio as I write this, making new pictures to add to the album. As the artist’s
x x x iii
Tomรกs Lasansky Sunset, 2004 (see plate 203)
Tomรกs Lasansky George Washington, 2009 (see plate 283)
son, I’ve been privileged to witness the gradual transformation of the work. When I visit him today and see a portrait being painted or drawn, I can quickly recognize how it relates to the works from his past. I’m confident this book with its ordered reproductions and supplemental text offers a good retrospective of roughly three decades of close observation. Those readers who flip through it will see the images and glean the information needed to make sense of Lasansky’s vast and expanding oeuvre. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future as my father continues to work with unremitting vigor in his Iowa City studio, etching plates, and painting and drawing under the fluorescent lights.
Rory L asansky
xxxv
preceding pages, from top left: Various states of Grandma and their corresponding copper plates Tomรกs inking and wiping a plate while editioning Grandma Tomรกs pulling a final state of Grandma Tomรกs at work in his basement studio in Iowa City, 1983
1
Portrait at Twenty-one #25, 1979 Color intaglio 24 Ă— 19 in. Collection: Bonnie & Bob Sierk
2
Bandido #2, 1980
3
Judge #15, 1981
Color intaglio 21 × 19¾ in. Collection: Becky & Thomas Gelman
Color intaglio 24 × 21½ in. Collection: Elizabeth Summy
4 Jupiter, 1981
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and pastel 45 Ă— 40 in. Collection: U.S. Bank N.A. Cedar Rapids, IA
5
Hot Air, 1981
Drawing on paper Pencil 35 Ă— 25 in. Collection: Naomi Asprey
6 Study of Jupiter, 1982
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 36 Ă— 30 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
7
Jupiter #8, 1982
Color intaglio 32 × 24 in. Collection: Nancy & Jerry Buxton
8 Linda W.S., 1982
Color intaglio 27¼ × 21¼ in. Collection: Linda Bisignano
9 Portrait at Twenty-five A.P., 1982
Color intaglio 16¼ × 12¾ in. Collection: Kathleen & Dick McKeen
10 Cellist #12, 1982
Color intaglio 31 Ă— 24 in. Collection: Tracy & Robert Mullen
← 15 Carnal-Val Knowledge, 1983 Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 59 × 40 in. Collection: Donna & Paul McKeen
11 Woo Woo A.P., 1983
12 Dena #3, 1983
13 Pursuer W.S., 1983
Color intaglio 15 × 15 in. Collection: Carrie & Joel Summy
Color intaglio 20 × 16 in. Collection: Kim & Patrick Gordon
Etching 15 × 15 in. Collection: Jimena Lasansky & William R. Sepe
14 Forecast A.P., 1983
Color intaglio 19 × 13 in. Collection: Cyndie & Russ Schmeiser
16 Study of an Artist W.S., 1983 Color intaglio 28½ × 20 in. Collection: Alicia & Jason Gordon
17 Pluto & Jupiter, 1983 Oil on linen canvas 49 Ă— 42 in. Collection: The artist
18 Grandma #3, 1983
Color intaglio 25 × 24 in. Collection: Buffie & Dick Tucker
19 Vulgo Quæsite W.S., 1983 Color intaglio 29 × 24 in. Collection: Kerry A. Finley
20 Autobiography W.S., 1983 Color intaglio 24 × 19¾ in. Collection: William Webster
← 23 French Quarter, 1984 Drawing on paper Pencil and ink wash 41 × 30 in. Collection: Gretchen Blair
21 Jewels, 1984
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and pastel 38 × 28 in. Collection: Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA
22 Heard It Through the Grape Vine W.S., 1984 Color intaglio 27 × 24 in. Collection: Sheila Tallman
← 26 Recovery, 1984
Oil on linen canvas 50 × 40 in. Collection: Lori & Phillip Lasansky
24 She-bob, 1984
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, chalk, ink wash, and pastel 37 × 25 in. Collection: Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
25 Don’t Fight It, 1984 Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 40 × 29 in. Collection: Roger Meyers
27 Pluto, Jupiter & Mercury, 1984 Oil on linen canvas 52 Ă— 61 in. Collection: Charlie Emmert Lasansky
28 Daniel #21, 1985
Color intaglio 40 Ă— 24 in. Collection: Barbara Blodi & Justin Gottlieb
29 Picasso #3, 1985
Color intaglio 24 Ă— 18 in. Collection: Jo & Richard Pattschull
30 Viva Picasso, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 40 Ă— 30 in. Collection: Private
← 33 Paul Engle, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 48 × 32 in. Collection: University of Iowa
31 Ma, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 34 × 28 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
32 Portrait of Artist Father, 1985 Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 34 × 28 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
34 Lisa W.S., 1985
Color intaglio 24 × 22 in. Collection: Jeffrey DeForest Davis
← 35 Lisa, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and water color 33 × 24 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
36 The Dream, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 32 × 25 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
37 Jezebel, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 22 × 16 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
← 38 Jezebel #10, 1985
Color intaglio 22 × 16 in. Collection: Sarah Summy
← 39 Sketch of Women, 1985
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and pastel 38 × 58 in. Collection: Private
40 Anatomy Lesson A.P., 1985
Etching 24 × 35 in. Collection: Cynthia Clark & Susan Spalj
41 White Night, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 41 × 34½ in. Collection: Nancy B. & Craig N. Willis
42 French Quarter 5, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 31 × 24 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
43 Genesis, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 31 × 24 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
preceding pages, from left: Tomás at work on Movers and Shakers, 1990 Nancy Mumm modeling, painted in checkers, 1990 Charlie Emmert Lasansky modeling, 1988
44 Stranger’s Touch, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 41 Ă— 33 in. Collection: Betty & Lloyd Schermer
← 45 I’m Still Waiting, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 45 × 32 in. Collection: Jeanie & Bill Olinger
46 Salomé 48, 1986
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 80 × 43 in. Collection: U.S. Bank N.A., Iowa City, IA
47 Carmen, 1986
48 Study of Carmen, 1986
49 Carmen #64, 1987
50 Carmen A.P., 1987
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 30 × 24 in. Collection: Private
Color intaglio 30 × 24 in. Collection: USIS-American Library, United States Embassy – Belgrade, Serbia
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 30 × 24 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
Color intaglio 30 × 24 in. Collection: Private
51 Carmen W.S., 1987
Color intaglio 30 × 24 in. Collection: Pat & Doug Sedlacek
52 Two Clowns, 1988
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 48 Ă— 58 in. Collection: Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
53 Stefan, 1988
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 45 Ă— 56 in. Collection: Debra & Joseph S. Czestochowski
54 Entrepreneur & Mistress, 1989 Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 48 × 58 in. Collection: Private
55 Tomás & Muse, 1989
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 48 × 58 in. Collection: Lynn & Blaze Worrell
56 American Gothic 2, 1990
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 48 × 58 in. Collection: Polly & Armond Pagliai
57 Tomás & Charlie, 1990
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 48 × 58 in. Collection: Nancy & Russ Kool
58 Rory at 7, 1990
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 61 Ă— 32 in. Collection: Courtney Nagle
59 Movers & Shakers W.S., 1990 Color intaglio 24 × 35½ in. Collection: Emiliano Lasansky
60 Uncle Tomás, 1990
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and ink wash 36 × 24 in. Collection: Tara & Robert Morman
61 Fall, 1990
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 25 Ă— 17 in. Collection: Jo & Doug Young
62 Indian Summer #8, 1990
Color intaglio 24 Ă— 16 in. Collection: Marna & David Rehage
63 Charlie, 1991
Oil on linen canvas 51 Ă— 41 in. Collection: The artist
64 Iowa Farmer, 1991
Oil on linen canvas 46 × 52 in. Collection: Erin & Scott Gritsch
65 Fat Man & Fat Cat, 1991
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 48 Ă— 58 in. Collection: Kathy & John Kramer
66 The Wedding, 1991
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 48 Ă— 58 in. Collection: Marcia & Darcell Adams
67 Rory & Jane, 1991
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 61 Ă— 32 in. Collection: Private
preceding pages: Tomรกs working on Rory Tomรกs working on Rory & Jane, 1991 photos by david tr awick
68 Rory with White Karate Suit, 1991 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 61 ร 32 in. Collection: Diane & Larry Allen
69 Rory with Cat, 1991
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 61 Ă— 32 in. Collection: Kathy & John Kramer
←
73 Rory, 1992–93
← 70 Tycoon, 1992
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 16 × 12 in. Collection: Lori & Phillip Lasansky
72 Kids in the Studio, 1992–93 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 31 × 40 in. Collection: Linda M. Noble
71 Rory Jon W.S., 1992
Color intaglio 18 × 10½ in. Collection: Kathleen & Dick McKeen
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, pastel, and acrylic 58 × 46 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
74 Charlie, 1992
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 46 Ă— 35 in. Collection: Jeanie and Bill Olinger
75 Charlie & Sarah, 1992
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 81 Ă— 40 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
76 Nancy, 1992
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 26 Ă— 19 in. Collection: John Cummiskey
77 Tycoon & Tally, 1992
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 12½ × 20 in. Collection: Lori & Phillip Lasansky
78 Entrepreneur & Salomé, 1992 Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 23½ × 18 in. Collection: Julie & Carl Schweser
79 Big Man W.S., 1992
Etching 18 × 13 in. Collection: Suzie & Thomas Summy
preceding pages: 80 Kristen, 1992
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 52 × 43½ in. Collection: Jeanie & Bill Olinger
81 Donita, 1992
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 55 × 43 in. Collection: Adam Rake
82 MJ, 1993
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 42 × 34 in. Collection: Kathy & John Kramer
83 Dawn, 1993
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and ink wash 34 Ă— 28 in. Collection: The artist
85 Picasso, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 41 × 35½ in. Collection: Polly & Armond Pagliai
86 Study of Picasso, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 41 × 35½ in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
← 84 Picasso with Bola, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 41 × 35½ in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
87 Charlie, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 46 × 56½ in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
88 Study of Kristen, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 8 × 12 in. Collection: Rory Lasansky
89 Kristen, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 46 × 56½ in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
90 Kristen A.P., 1994
Color intaglio 12 × 14 in. Collection: Judy & Tom Webster
previous pages: 91 Richie’s Choice, 1994
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 29 × 35½ in. Collection: Debra & Joseph S. Czestochowski
92 American Indian, 1994
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 × 35 in. Collection: Julie & Carl Schweser
93 American Indian II, 1994
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 × 35 in. Collection: Lynn & Blaze Worrell
94 Chief Eagle, 1995
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 39½ × 44½ in. Collection: Polly & Armond Pagliai
95 Medicine Man, 1995
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 × 36 in. Collection: Jessie & Patrick Moreland
96 Phillip after Picasso, 1995 Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 17 Ă— 12 in. Collection: Diego Lasansky
97 Sight and Sound, 1995
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 Ă— 48 in. Collection: Wendy & Paul Faganel
← 100 Artist at Work, 1995
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 × 48 in. Collection: Polly & Armond Pagliai
98 Mandy, Morgan & Rory, 1995 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 × 48 in. Collection: Private
99 Rory, Rory, Emiliano & Morgan, 1995
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 × 48 in. Collection: Lee & Jay Clancey
101 Morgan & Emiliano, 1995
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 55 Ă— 46 in. Collection: Lori & Phillip Lasansky
102 Chief, 1996
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and airbrush 44 Ă— 35 in. Collection: Cindy & John Bloomhall
103 American Indian, 1996
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 46 Ă— 40 in. Collection: Kim & John Callaghan
104 Warrior, 1996
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and airbrush 45 Ă— 35 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
105 Lisa, 1995
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 34 Ă— 28 in. Collection: Julie & Carl Schweser
106 Angela, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 36 Ă— 29 in Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
107 Angela I, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 20 × 27 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
108 Study of Angela, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 20 × 27 in. Collection: John Cummiskey
109 Angela II, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 20 × 27 in. Collection: Cindy & John Bloomhall
110 Angela & Leon, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 27 × 20 in. Collection: Patty & Jim Cownie
111 Charlie with Rose, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 27 × 20 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
112 Great Grandfather, 1994
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 17 × 25 in. Collection: Jeff, Mike, Terry & Andy Cooper
← 113 Rory & Emiliano, 1996 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 71 × 44 in. Collection: The artist
114 The Circus, 1996
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 × 48 in. Collection: Barbara & Alfred Winick
115 Eli & Coleman, 1996
Drawing on paper Pencil 31 × 25 in. Collection: Dori & Tim Slager
← 116 Morgan, Emiliano & Diego, 1996
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 72 × 48 in. Collection: Maureen & Jim Mondanaro
117 Spirit, 1997
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, airbrush, and acrylic 44 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Dori & Tim Slager
118 Geronimo with Horses, 1997 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
← 119 Native American Portrait W.S., 1997 Color intaglio 36 × 24 in. Collection: Debra & Joseph S. Czestochowski
120 Rory W.S., 1992–1997
121 Picasso W.S., 1997
122 Rory W.S., 1992–1997
123 Rory, 1997
Etching / hand-colored and collage 30 × 24 in. Collection: Kathleen & Dick McKeen
Etching / hand-colored and collage 30 × 24 in. Collection: Carol & Jim Cooper
Engraving 30 × 24 in. Collection: Alison & John Summy
Etching 30 × 24 in. Collection: Vicki & Keith Fuquay
124 Native American I, 1998
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 49 Ă— 41 in. Collection: Christin & Joe Kohls
125 Native American II, 1998
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 49 Ă— 41 in. Collection: Private
126 Native American, 1998
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 45 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Private
127 Self Portrait, 1998
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 × 37 in. Collection: Joseph A. Bisignano
128 General Tomás, 1998
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink wash, and pastel 42 × 34 in. Collection: Marcia & Darcell Adams
129 Chief with Eagle, 1998
Drawing on paper Pencil and colored pencil 19 Ă— 26 in. Collection: Dori & Tim Slager
130 Sun Down, 1998
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 44 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Fran & Gary Faust
131 Chief Eagle, 1998 Drawing on paper Pencil 40 × 45 in. Collection: Private
132 Sitting Bull, 1998
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 61 × 49 in. Collection: Private
← 133 Chief, 1999
Drawing / collage on paper Pencil and colored pencil 56 × 45 in. Collection: Cindy & John Bloomhall
134 Geronimo in Sepia, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, ink, ink wash, pastel, acrylic, and airbrush 44 Ă— 36 in. Collection: The artist
135 Geronimo XX, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, ink, ink wash, pastel, acrylic, and airbrush 44 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Private
136 Geronimo with Beads, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, ink, ink wash, pastel, acrylic, and airbrush 44 Ă— 37 in. Collection: Diane & Larry Allen
← 137 Geronimo II, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, ink, ink wash, pastel, acrylic, and airbrush 44 × 37 in. Collection: Deanna & Richard Gale
138 Lincoln I, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink, ink wash, acrylic, and airbrush 33 × 39 in. Collection: Joyce & Richard Chapman
139 Lincoln Profile, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink, ink wash, acrylic, and airbrush 33 × 39 in. Collection: Gretchen Blair
140 Lincoln, 1999
Drawing on paper Pencil, colored pencil, ink, ink wash, acrylic, and airbrush 33 × 39 in. Collection: Marc Moen & Bobby Jett
141 Charlie & Skippy, 1988–1999 Drawing / collage on paper Pencil, colored pencil, and ink wash 59 × 46 in. Collection: Adam Rake