Artwork description:

This is a painted original gelatin silver print by American artist Jerry De La Cruz (b 1948, Denver, CO). It is from a photo taken and developed by the artist in his darkroom and then used as a canvas for the addition of oil paint over the photo. The work is 9.25” high by 7.5” wide and is framed to a size of 17.5” high by 14.5” wide.
The subject is a bust-high portrait of a young woman. She faces the viewer, her head tipped to the side. She has long dark curly hair and sports a black V-necked top with a patterned scarf. Her eyes are slightly closed, and her full mouth is relaxed, almost smiling. Over this photo, the artist has scribbled textures in black paint and then created a bright “brushstroke” across her face with a strong shadow on her face. The palette is almost all monochrome in the original gray tones of the original black and white photographs and black oil paint except for the perimeter of the work which has some pale-yellow edging.
The work is titled “Flash - Flesh.” It is in excellent condition and signed on the front lower right. The work with black museum board matting is framed under glass (plexiglass for shipping) with a black gloss metal frame, with hardware ready to hang.
De La Cruz has been a full-time professional fine artist since 1975. He was the subject of a museum-wide retrospective at Denver's Museo de las Americas in 2015-2016. He is listed among the three dozen most influential regional artists of the twentieth century in a Denver Post survey of regional curators and proved the bestselling artist at the first International Latino Art Auction in Phoenix, AZ. The Denver Art Museum's first purchase of a living Hispanic's work for its permanent collection was a De La Cruz. Years later, he was the only artist considered when that same museum wanted to commission a major, contemporary digital work commemorating the opening of its new Libeskind Building. De La Cruz was the recipient of back-to-back artist-in-residency grants from Colorado in his early career and received as well their very last painting fellowship. Other honors include award of Best Art Event of the Year by Westword Magazine and appointment to Denver’s Commission on Arts and Culture. For further information, please see the artist’s extensive website.

Materials used:

oil and mixed media on gelatin siler print

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