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Claire Falkenstein American (1908-1997) Born in Coos Bay, Oregon, Falkenstein studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and in the mid-1930s started to produce abstract sculptures, making small, Moebius-strip, structures out of clay. She exhibited often in the 1930s and '40s, including solo shows at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art in 1940, 1941 and 1949, however, in the early-1950s she traveled to Paris, and remained abroad for the next dozen years, returning to America in 1962. She exhibited widely whilst in Europe; including shows in Paris, London and Rome. Known for her tubular structures, bronze, and glass works, she also executed many private commissions; including stair rails, fire screens, gates (for Peggy Guggenhaim's palazzo in Venice), fountains etc. Falkenstein was initially exposed to printmaking through the work of Stanley William Hayter in 1935, when he visited the California College of Arts and Crafts. She renewed her acquaintance with Hayter in Paris, at his Atelier 17, in the 1950s and at this time produced a small series of collagraphs. However, her print output was never large, and this particular lithograph is one of very small number of white-on-black images printed when the artist was again living in California. Her work is included in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum; San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Tate Gallery etc.

 

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