In Memory of Mel Ramos

Mel Ramos at Magnolia Editions

We are sad to report that longtime friend of the studio and Pop Art pioneer Mel Ramos passed away this weekend at the age of 83.

Born in Sacramento on July 24, 1935, Ramos studied art and art history at Sacramento State College. He taught at local high schools and held a teaching position at CSU Hayward from 1966-1997, continuing as an emeritus professor while teaching intermittently at CCAC (now California College of the Arts).

All the while Ramos maintained a highly prolific studio practice which, in addition to his signature oil paintings on canvas, encompassed a variety of printmaking techniques including silkscreen, etching, woodcut, and more.

Mel Ramos - Wonder Woman, 2014
woodcut with acrylic
image: 37 x 26.75 in. paper: 44 x 30 in.
Edition of 30

Ramos's work was exhibited and appreciated worldwide; in later years, he enjoyed great acclaim particularly in Germany, where it seemed there was a nearly continuous demand for his colorful, instantly recognizable Pop Art style.

In 2010, Villa Stuck in München, Germany mounted a major solo exhibition, "Mel Ramos: 50 Years of Pop Art," comprising five decades worth of work by Ramos including paintings, drawings, watercolors, and sculptures. Another major exhibition of his work was held at the Albertina in Vienna, Austria in 2011.

German galleries and collectors figured prominently in the enthusiastic response to the editions Ramos published with Magnolia over the last several decades.

These projects included woodcut images of classic superheroes; tapestry versions of some of his most iconic paintings; a limited edition, laser-cut jigsaw puzzle featuring Ramos's take on comic book hero Captain Midnight; and the Albrecht Durer tribute Leta on Durer's Rhino, an etching with UV-cured acrylic ink on paper, executed at Magnolia with the help of master printers Tallulah Terryll and Nicholas Price and additional assistance from artist Guy Diehl.

Mel Ramos - Superman, 2014
woodcut with acrylic
image: 37 x 26.75 in. paper: 44 x 30 in.
Edition of 30

"Mel Ramos: 50 Years of Superheroes, Nudes, and Other Pop Delights," a retrospective of over 50 years of Ramos's work was exhibited at the Crocker Art Museum in his hometown of Sacramento in 2012.

Mel often visited Magnolia with his wife Leta and daughter/studio manager Rochelle Leininger. Below please find a gallery of memories from some of his recent visits.

Ramos with artwork by Don & Era Farnsworth; note his Mel Ramos t-shirt!

Ramos with an early proof of the UV ink layer of his 2015 Hawkman woodcut edition

Ramos with proofs of his 2015 Hawkman woodcut edition

Ramos and Guy Diehl with proof of his 2016 etching Leta on Durer's Rhino

Diehl, Ramos, and Don Farnsworth with proof of his 2016 etching Leta on Durer's Rhino

Ramos celebrating with Magnolia staff at Bay Wolf restaurant in Oakland, CA

A film crew captures Magnolia master printer Nicholas Price printing a Ramos woodcut at Magnolia

Ramos with proofs of his 2014 woodcut Wonder Woman

Don Farnsworth, Guy Diehl, Ramos, and master printers Nicholas Price and Tallulah Terryll with proofs of Ramos's 2014 woodcut Wonder Woman

Ramos editioning Wonder Woman with Tallulah Terryll and Rochelle Leininger

Farnsworth and Ramos with the latter's label design for Christian Tschida winery

Ramos at home in his Oakland studio with proofs of his 2016 etching Leta on Durer's Rhino

Rochelle Leininger, Mel Ramos and Leta Ramos at Ramos's studio with proofs of his 2016 etching Leta on Durer's Rhino

Portrait of Mel Ramos by Don Farnsworth

Portrait of Mel Ramos by Don Farnsworth

Ramos at home in his Oakland studio

Ramos with work by George Miyasaki at a memorial for Miyasaki

Ramos with Price and Ernst Hilger at Magnolia Editions

Mel and Leta Ramos with Beverly Berrish at Magnolia Editions

Ramos at Magnolia Editions

Portrait of Mel Ramos by Don Farnsworth

More art by Mel Ramos from Magnolia Editions

Ramos Superheroines Up Next

Mel Ramos - Superman, 2014. 37 x 26.75 in. Edition of 30
The response to Mel Ramos's Superman and Batman woodcut/acrylic editions has been tremendous!

Revisiting some of his earliest Pop Art paintings and released only four months ago, Ramos's superhero prints proved to be especially popular with his European audience; only seven sets were acquired by American collectors, while the rest were speedily dispatched overseas.

The Sacramento-born Ramos lives and works in Oakland, where he is equally well-loved: a Batman print donated to Flourish, an annual art auction held locally to benefit the Oakland Art Murmur organization, sold before auction at a price well over retail.

Mel Ramos - Batman, 2014. 37 x 26.75 in. Edition of 30
Magnolia director Donald Farnsworth credits the artist's commitment to broadening the scope of his practice, as well as the innovative hybrid techniques perfected by the staff at Magnolia: "Having worked with Mel for twenty years," Farnsworth says, "he has been consistently fearless in diving in to tapestry, digital/analog print combinations, and the variety of mad science experiments he is presented with at Magnolia."

Farnsworth also points to the unusual intersection of content and technique from multiple generations that coalesces in Superman and Batman. "In these prints," he explains, "we're using an Old World woodcut matrix – but the content is classic Pop Art, and the artist is using digital-age tools to manipulate the composition and direct the cutting of the wood block."

Judging from the extraordinary response to these editions, Ramos's heroes are still able to profoundly affect their audience more than half a century since Ramos decided to paint his favorite comic book characters in 1962 and Pop Art was born.

Magnolia Editions and the artist also donated a Superman print to San Francisco's M.H. de Young Museum, which in 2004 acquired the iconic 1962 canvas upon which Superman (2014) is based:

Mel Ramos - Superman, 1962. Oil on canvas. 45 x 32.5 inches

“It is the most historically significant Pop Art painting in our permanent collection,” noted de Young Curator of American Art Timothy Burgard in this excellent 2012 magazine profile of Ramos.

Besides signaling the beginning of Pop Art, Ramos's early superheroes also marked an important transition in the artist's subject matter. Once the de Kooning-inspired abstractions of his art school days gave way to the unambiguous figuration of Superman and Batman, it was only a matter of time (less than a year, in fact -- cf. 1962's Phantom Lady and Wonder Woman) before Ramos began painting superheroines, which ultimately led to the colorful female nudes for which he is best known.

Accordingly, the artist is currently working on a new set of woodcut editions that will revisit the superheroines of his Pop Art past. Stay tuned to this blog for details, or sign up for the Magnolia Editions mailing list.

For more details on the Batman and Superman woodcut editions, please see this press release:

New Editions: Woodcuts by Mel Ramos

Mel Ramos - Superman, 2014. 37 x 26.75 in. Edition of 30
Following the Mel Ramos retrospective that traveled across seven major European museums in 2010-2011 to celebrate Ramos’s 75th birthday and on the occasion of Batman’s 75th birthday this year, it seems only fitting that Magnolia Editions revisit the iconic superhero paintings that started Ramos on the road to becoming one of Pop Art’s most recognizable figures.

Mel Ramos - Batman, 2014. 37 x 26.75 in. Edition of 30
The artist worked closely with Magnolia director Donald Farnsworth and Bay Area realist painter and frequent Magnolia collaborator Guy Diehl to develop the wood block matrices and the corresponding layers of acrylic color for each print. Ramos is well known for his color lithograph editions (a 2006 lithograph revisited Superman) but these prints represent an unusual and bold move toward woodcut — a very different print medium and one which Ramos had rarely explored before this project.

Detail view of the woodblock matrix for Superman
For full details about the production of these two new editions, please read the press release at Magnolia's website:

More art by Mel Ramos at Magnolia Editions

Magnolia featured in Oakland Art Enthusiast

Kiki Smith tapestry proofs at Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA; photo by Al Cosio
After a recent visit to Magnolia Editions, Oakland Art Enthusiast editors Monique Delaunay and Al Cosio interviewed Magnolia co-founder and director Donald Farnsworth for an "Arts in Depth" feature in the online magazine that includes a series of beautiful photos by Cosio of the studio and works in progress.

Ceramic works by Chuck Close at Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA; photo by Al Cosio
This comprehensive interview covers everything from Farnsworth's philosophy when developing projects with artists like Chuck Close and Kiki Smith to a consideration of Oakland's art scene and the ways that Magnolia serves as a hub for a whole community of Bay Area artists and art lovers:

OAE: Are there particular projects you are especially proud of being a part? Any particular artist with whom you have worked that is particularly meaningful?

Farnsworth: What is more important to me than any one particular artist, and what is ultimately the foremost reason for Magnolia’s existence and continued survival, is the community we have built here. Without the brilliance of local artists like Squeak Carnwath, Rupert Garcia, Hung Liu, Lewis deSoto, Guy Diehl, Mel Ramos, Mildred Howard, Mark Stock, Enrique Chagoya and George Miyasaki, we would not have the studio we have today. Without the support of museums like the de Young, where curator Karin Breuer honored the studio and Rupert Garcia in 2011 with the show Rupert Garcia: The Magnolia Editions Projects 1991-2011, surveying our twenty years of collaboration with Rupert, and without the continued support of friends like the Bay Wolf restaurant and Brown Sugar Kitchen we would not have the opportunities to do what we do. Magnolia sometimes serves as a de facto think tank, where a master bookbinder like John DeMerritt may drop in at the same time as an expert glass artist like Dorothy Lenehan or a brilliant curator and scholar like Barbaro Martinez-Ruiz. Ideas and enthusiasm are constantly being exchanged between people from various creative disciplines: that’s the heart and soul of the studio.

Proofs of new Mel Ramos woodcut editions at Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA; photo by Al Cosio
Please visit Oakland Art Enthusiast to read the full interview and to check out more profiles of local galleries, exhibitions and artists.

Exhibitions in October

Enrique Chagoya - Time Can Pass Fast or Slowly, 2009
Mixed media with acrylic on gessoed amate paper
40.5 x 40.75 in. Edition of 10
October will be full of shows featuring work from Magnolia Editions at venues all over the world!

In Spain, Enrique Chagoya's exhibition at the Fundacion Artium de Alava, "Enrique Chagoya: Palimpsesto caníbal" will open this Friday, October 4th and remain on view through January 12, 2014.

Here in Oakland, Joyce Gordon Gallery's ten year anniversary show "Then is Now" includes work by a host of Magnolia-affiliated artists including Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, and Mel Ramos. Bay Area residents are encouraged to check out "Then is Now" this month; the show comes down October 26, 2013.

Meanwhile, at Hong Kong's 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, several tapestries published by Magnolia Editions are included in Hung Liu's "Mid Autumn Moon" exhibition, on view through this Saturday, October 5th.

In Berkeley, California, Magnolia directors Donald and Era Farnsworth and longtime Magnolia collaborator Rupert Garcia are among the artists featured in "New Media Combinations: Traditional - Digital," which runs until November 16, 2013 at the Berkeley Art Center. Artists in the show will also participate in a panel on October 26 where attendees will have more opportunities to hear about the inspiration and processes behind each work.

Finally, our friends in Oregon have the opportunity to see numerous tapestry editions by Chuck Close at the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts / Blue Sky Gallery, where "Chuck Close: Tapestries" runs through October 27, 2013.

Tapestries at Guild Hall NY and Modernism SF

Chuck Close - Self-Portrait (Pink T-shirt), 2013
Jacquard tapestry - 93 x 76 in. Edition of 10
New tapestry editions by Chuck Close published by Magnolia Editions, as well as a suite of watercolor prints printed at Magnolia, will be exhibited in "Chuck Close: Recent Works" at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.

The show will kick off with a conversation between the artist and Robert Storr on Saturday, August 10 from 3-4 pm; an opening reception from 4-6 pm will follow. Both the talk and the opening are free for Guild Hall members.

For more details on the show and associated events, please see this entry; for information on visiting Guild Hall, please check their website.

Kiki Smith - Cathedral, 2013
Jacquard tapestry - 113 x 75 in. Edition of 10
Meanwhile, here on the West Coast, San Francisco's venerable Modernism gallery will mount an exhibition of tapestries published by Magnolia from a diverse group of artists including Kiki Smith, Deborah Oropallo, Donald & Era Farnsworth, Chester Arnold, Doug Hall, Mel Ramos, and Guy Diehl.

"Selected Tapestries" opens August 2nd at Modernism; for visiting information and to see images of the tapestries in the show, please see their website.

More tapestries from Magnolia Editions