Desert Plant

1965

Ruth Asawa

Associated Names
Ruth Asawa

Artist, American, 1926 - 2013

Tamarind Institute

Publisher

This print shows a network of interlocking pink lines radiating from a central red point to form a circular pattern. The shapes resemble a vibrant, stylized flower or mandala against a white background. The branching lines get smaller and smaller as they reach the edge of the circle, and from slightly before then to the edge of the print the background is a bright, vibrant yellow.
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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

This is a black-and-white photograph of a rocky landscape with a patch of scrubland stretching out into the distance. Closest to us, on the left side, a tall rocky mountain rises up. Standing on the rocks is a woman with her back to us. She has long, dark, straight hair that falls down her back, and she is wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt and a wide white skirt. In her left hand, she appears to hold a rope, or perhaps her hand is tangled in her long hair. In her right hand, she holds a large square object with a handle that looks like a radio or similar device. She stands behind tall, dark gray leafy plants. On the right, the background reveals a vast open terrain dotted with small shrubs under a light gray sky.

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This print shows a network of interlocking pink lines radiating from a central red point to form a circular pattern. The shapes resemble a vibrant, stylized flower or mandala against a white background. The branching lines get smaller and smaller as they reach the edge of the circle, and from slightly before then to the edge of the print the background is a bright, vibrant yellow.

Article:  Ruth Asawa’s Little-Known Experiment with Printmaking

Memorialized in stamps for her wire sculptures, the artist’s experiments with printmaking have been largely forgotten.

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

2024

  • "American Modernism. Borderlands: Expanded Visions of the Southwest," National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, May 15, 2024–January 10, 2025.

Bibliography

1989

  • Devon, Marjorie, and Peter Walch. Catalogue Raisonné: Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc., 1960-1970. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Art Museum, 1989, no. 1460.

Inscriptions

on verso: (signed)

Markings

BS: Tamarind (T.1), Rock (T.37)

Watermarks

None.

Wikidata ID

Q74040264

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