Desert Flower (TAM. 1469-111)

Artist Ruth Asawa American, 1926–2013

Printer Bob Evermon , Tamarind Lithography Workshop American, born 1941

Date1965

MediumLithograph on paper

Dimensionsheight and width: 20 1/4 × 26 in. (51.4 × 66 cm)
height, width, and depth (framed): 25 1/2 × 31 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (64.8 × 79.4 × 3.8cm)

ClassificationsPaper

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art

Object number2023.21.2

On View

Not on view

Label TextIn 1965 Josef Albers nominated Ruth Asawa for a fellowship at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. Despite leaving her family for two months, Asawa worked exclusively with seven master printers, producing lithographs by utilizing natural forms and lithographic materials inspired by her previous studies under Albers.

Asawa’s prints began as drawings on limestone, using pencils, crayons, or ink, followed by layering materials, moistening with water, and inking. During her residency she created lithographs, and among these, five that feature desert flowers, including this work. Texture in the image is indicated by marks that appear as cracks, effectively suggesting the arid, parched landscape of a desert, providing the impression that Asawa is offering us an aerial perspective.
[J. Ledesma, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2024]ProvenanceCreated by the artist, 1965; Private collectionExhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection Reimagined," August 26, 2024-July 14, 2025. Object Rights Statement

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