Artist Roy De Forest 2.11.13 Thought of the Day

De Forest with his dog [Image courtesy: UC Davis]

He grew up in  Nebraska and Yakima, Washington. He studied math and humanities at Yakima Junior College, receiving his associate degree in 1950.  Later he went to the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco to study art. After graduation he joined the Army. After serving in the Army he earned his master’s degree at San Francisco State University.

By 1955 he had his first show. He was a “founding father” of the UC Davis  Art Department. He started at the University in 1965  and worked there until he retired in 1992.

Young General George (1976) [Image Courtesy: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts]

His artworks are populated with a menagerie of creatures – some identifiably of this world, others inhabitants of some purely imaginary land, all living narrative lives in some unbounded territory between reality and magic. In addition to the wonder and joy of his imagery, Roy was known as an artist’s artist. He constantly found new ways to apply paint/pigment/mark to paper/canvas/wood. [University of California memorial]

Today Roy De Forest’s canvases can be found at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art the Hirshorn Museum in Washington, D.C. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (and more).

A “Roy De Forest Retrospective Exhibition” originated in 1974 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City the following year. [Ibid]

The artist died at the age of 77 in May of 2007.

Canis Prospectus (1986) [Image Courtesy: Preview Art]

Dogs were an important subject in De Forest’s work. [Image courtesy SFMOMA]

Trouble with Bovine Quarters (Image courtesy: George Adams Gallery )

Goat Daze [Image Courtesy: George Adams Gallery.]

I kept this bioBLOG intentionally brief because a) I couldn’t find out a lot about DeForest and B) I wanted to spend more time showing you his awesome art than talking about him.