Salmon Beach #1 by Howard Bradford

This is a serigraph by California artist Howard Bradford. It is titled Salmon Beach #1 (pencil lower center) It is pencil signed and dated Howard Bradford 57 lower right. The edition is 80 (Ed. 80 pencil lower left). This is a very typical work by Bradford. He uses multiple colors in an abstract expressionist style to define the ground of the image, then superimposes a figure, in this case a bird. This gives his images a lot of energy and life. Bradford lived in Northern California and much of his art depicts scenes from the area (Monterey, Yosemite, Big Sur, etc.). Most of his work is quite large. This is the smallest I've come across. There isn't a Salmon Beach in northern California that I have found, but there is one in Washington state and another in British Columbia, so the name could be referencing one of these. The piece is framed and the frame size is 22.75 x 13 inches. It has not been examined out of the frame, but appears to be in excellent condition. The mat is not archival. The seller received this directly from the artist and it was in her home for many years. An excellent example of his work.

Howard Bradford (1919-2008) was a prolific artist who is not as well known as he probably should be. He was born in Canada but moved with his family to California as a young child. After serving in World War II, he attended art school in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the latter at the art institute. He went on to teach at one of the institutions he studied at, the Jepson in Los Angeles. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Printmaking in 1960. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Utah. He medium of choice was serigraphy and he was a leader in this area being a charter member of the Western Serigraph Institute in Los Angeles. He also belonged to several other artist organizations including the American Color Print Society and the Carmel Art Association. His work is held in many collections including the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Philadelphia Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and museums in Europe. Of note, his wife, Dorothy Bowman was an accomplished artist who also used serigraphy as her primary medium. We have pieces by both artists in the inventory.