PUEBLO, CO (PNAN) – Opened in November, “Gene Kloss: Pioneer Printmaker” is an exhibition selected from the permanent collection on view in the Helen Thatcher White Galleries of the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center where it houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of Kloss’s works in the world.
Alice Geneva Kloss (nee Glasier) began painting and producing intaglio prints in the mid-1920s, and continued through the mid-1980s, yielding a body of work which is breathtaking in its scope and significance.
During her lifetime, Gene etched more than 627 copper plates, with editions ranging from five to 250. Every print in every edition she pulled herself. Believing subject matter dictated technique, she adeptly employed a variety of techniques including: etching, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint, soft ground and many experimental approaches, often on the same plate.
From her first exhibition in 1937 at San Francisco’s exclusive Gump’s to her retirement in 1985, Kloss’s artistic career was widely hailed. She received numerous awards. In 1950, she became the first female Associate of the National Academy of Design, and a full Academician in 1972. Her work can be seen in the permanent collections of the National Academy of Design, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of New Mexico, San Francisco Art Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution.
