Charles W. Hess, "Abstraction", Resin-oil on plexiglas, sheet aluminum 1948

CHARLES W. HESS (1921-1998) USA

Abstraction 1948

Resin-oil on plexiglas, sheet aluminum

Signed: CH (in a circle)

Exhibited: Solo Exhibition, Modernism, San Francisco, CA, 1981; Charles Hess and Leta English Hess: Joint Retrospective, University Art Gallery, University of California, Riverside, October 1 – November 10, 1985; Charles Hess: Neoplastic Works, Modernism, Art of the 20th Century, San Francisco, CA; June 6 – 29, 1991.

Painting illustrated: “On Transparency and Reflection,”
The Structurist No. 27/28, 1987/1988.

Painting H: 12” x W: 12” x D: 1”
Framed H: 22” x W: 22” x D: 1 1/2”

Price: $58,000

Born in 1921 in Long Beach, California, Charles Hess studied painting at UCLA, University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley. In 1962 he joined the faculty of San Francisco State University where he taught until 1983. Hess’s paintings have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions including shows at the Pasadena Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago where his work is also in the permanent collection.

Working in the neo-plasticist style for over thirty years, Hess’s work explored the three-dimensional relationship between the basic elements of painting: color, form, and space. Abstraction is one of the few works to survive from this period; most pieces from this period were lost due to the 1991 fire in the Oakland, CA hills.

***Charles and Leta English Hess papers, 1895-1987 can be found at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.
Included are ten letters from Stanton Macdonald-Wright to Hess (1954-1965) relating to his views of the relationship between patrons and artists, the 1956 Paris art scene, contemporary art criticism, the art market, and his break with the Duveen Graham Gallery.