Artwork of the Week!! Sun, Apr 30, 2023 is by Howard Hack (1932-2015) "Object #44 - Pen Holder and 4 objects", sculpture, 1988, 14/50. $1,000.00.

Artwork of the Week!! Sunday, April 30, 2023. A unique work by San Francisco Beat Generation sculptor Howard Edwin Hack (1932-2015)Artwork of the Week!! Sunday, April 30, 2023. A unique work by San Francisco Beat Generation sculptor Howard Edwin Hack (1932-2015).

?"Object #44 - Pen Holder and 4 objects" is a unique "editioned" sculpture with five elements, created from various cardboard and wooden materials and hand painted by California artist Howard Edwin Hack (1932-2015) done in 1988. The assembled work measures 19" high, 20-1/4" wide, and 3-3/8" deep. Each element is signed, titled, dated, copyrighted, and editioned "14/50" in pigmant by the artist. Our inventory number for this sculpture is 18242.

This surreal California AbEx sculpture by Howard Edwin Hack (1932-2015) is available from the gallery for $1,000.00.

Contact the gallery with any condition or other questions. Shipping costs will be discussed. California residents will have sales tax added. Out of state residents may be responsible for use tax, depending on state law.

Check out our current gallery exhibition: "Abstract Expressionism in Northern California 1945-1964. Works on paper from the estate of San Francisco collector Marian Schell Skiles." March 18 through May 29, 2023. This work is not part of the exhibition.

A painted multiple by San Francisco artist Howard Hack using poster board, wood and paint. Though "editioned", each piece in the edition is hand painted, and the sizes and number of elements for each work vary, making each piece unique. This was originally sold through the Art Exchange in Berkeley, California.

The "Pen Holder" is composed of five elements. First, the "holder", a kind of vase formed by two 9 x 10" plywood triangles, each with the pyramid eye of the American dollar bill painted on sheets of paper attached on the outer surfaces. A 2-1/4" thick block of wood, cut to form an inverted "V" shape, is sandwiched between the pieces, creating the "pen holder". This element is titled, signed, editioned "14/15", dated "Aug. 1988" and with a copyright symbol on the bottom. Into this vase-like element the other elements are held like a bouquet, each plywood shape attached to a long shaft ending in a triangle. These are cut to fit in the "V"-shaped cup of the holder.

The elements are: The "Ruler", measuring 20-1/4 by 1-1/2", numbered both 2/30 and 14/50; "Glass Disk #25", a disk with a decorative work attached to the front -- in this case, a Chinese phoenix; a "Symbol of Infinity I", the sideways "8" of the infinity symbol painted in black and green; and "Flash", a comic-style blast shape painted in yellow and red. Each element is dated, titled, copyrighted, and anotated "Oct. 1988 San Francisco" on the verso.

Symbology was a large part of Hack's work in the later half of his career. He did both a "Glass Disk" and an "Icon: Coaster Infinity" series, two symbols that appear in this piece.

Howard Edwin Hack was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 6, 1932.?In 1939 he moved with his family to Oakland, California. His art career began as a teenager in the late 1940s when he exhibited his self-taught paintings at popular venues Vesuvio Cafe and The Coffee Gallery in the North Beach area of San Francisco, establishing himself among the North Beach artists and the greater Bay Area Figurative movement.

In 1949 Hack became a summer student of Yasuo Kuniyoshi at Mills College. Between the years 1950 and 1953, he studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the San Francisco Art Institute, and independently with Martin Baer, learning Flemish oil painting techniques.

In 1953 Hack was drafted and sent to Korea as a truck driver and clerk-typist. When he returned to the United States he occupied a studio space in the Spreckels Mansion, known as the Ghost House, with other artists, such as Jay DeFeo, Wally Hedrick, and Hayward King. He participated in his first exhibition in 1955 at the Oakland Art Museum's Western Painters Annual.?

Hack lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico between 1957 and 1959, where he developed his painting style further, focusing on Mexican culture and daily life, as well as religious subjects. Returning once more to the U.S., he enrolled at the University of San Francisco and, on the advice of North Beach luminary Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he rented studio space in the Audiffred Building with fellow artists Frank Lobdell, Hassell Smith, Sonia Getchoff, and others. In 1962 he received a B.A. in philosophy, with a focus on Kantian concepts of symbolism, which would be incorporated into his future work. Among his most notable works was a the "Blue Print" series, featuring images that incorporated symbols printed in blue ink on paper, appearing similar to solar prints. He was represented on the West Coast by Gump's and John Bolles Gallery; on the East Coast, by Lee Nordness Gallery, New York.

Howard Hack continued to live and work in San Francisco for the rest of his life, exhibiting throughout California and the U.S. to critical acclaim. He would become known by critics as a Magic Realist - though he himself did not refer to his work or methods in that way. He would also become a beloved neighbor to fellow artists and others living in the Laurel Heights neighborhood where he kept his studio. He?died in Oakland, California on June 11, 2015.

To purchase this work, or read a biography for Howard Hack use this link to our website: https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/artist/915/Hack/Howard

Use this link to view our complete inventory on our website: https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory?q