Pen and brush and color and metallic inks on smooth wove paper, 1984. 278x192 mm; 11x7 1/2 inches. Signed, dated, inscribed and dedicated to "RR", Rena Rosequist in pencil, lower sheet edge.
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to Rena Rosequist, 1984; thence by descent to current owner, private collection, New York.
Rena Rosequist (born Rena Furlong, 1931-2019) was born in Hickory, North Carolina and attended the Women's College of the University of North Carolina, where she was exposed to the work of young modern artists, like Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). After graduation, she attended the progressive Black Mountain College and continued her studies in art and art history. During her time at Black Mountain College, Rosequist met her first husband, poet Joel Oppenheimer (1930-1988), who attended until 1953. By 1955, Chamberlain (1927-2011) had followed friend and fellow artist, Gerry van de Wiele (born 1932) from the Art Institute of Chicago to Black Mountain College, where Chamberlain would meet Rosequist. Eventually Oppenheimer, Rosequist, and Chamberlain migrated to New York, and though Oppenheimer and Rosequist divorced by 1960, Rosequist and the itinerant Chamberlain kept in touch. Rosequist moved to Taos, New Mexico and operated Mission Gallery with her second husband, Ivan Rosequist from 1962 to 2017.
