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    Lost Art Salon
    • | All Art
    • | New Arrivals
    • I "The Way We Were"
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    • | Yeon & David Warner
    • | Book Your Visit
    • | Artist by Name
    • | Art by Category
      • Abstract
      • Figurative
      • Landscape
      • Still Life
    • | Art by Medium
      • Drawings & Watercolors
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      • Mixed Media
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      • Photography
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      Gary L. Shaffer

      Gary L. Shaffer

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      Gary Lee Shaffer (1936-2001)

      • The Collection
      • The Story
      • Gary Lee Shaffer was a forward looking and self-sufficient artist who avoided social and political movements, working independently in a non-objective, expressionist manner. He set out to New York in 1957, joining many other artists like Agnes Martin and Hans Hoffman who converged on a new and exciting emerging urban art scene. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Shaffer left a broken home, mother and 2 sisters, pursuing his education and a broader, more adventurous creative life in a larger urban setting. He was searching for an identity, a medium and an aesthetic means to convey subjective states through Abstract Expressionist painting. There is nothing subtle about any of Shaffer's work. His prints reflect post war and modern trends in printmaking that originated on the East Coast. Expressionism is the thread woven through his work starting with pure fluid abstractions to his large moody deconstructed landscapes. His forms and colors are bold, imagery laden with symbols and organic, biomorphic shapes. A reclining stylized figure appears in his earlier work along with tactile stone forms, targets, spheres, the sun and circles.

        After two full summer residency scholarships for study at the Hans Hoffman School of Painting in Provincetown, MA, he felt that he was not painting well and joined the Printmakers’ Workshop. This membership studio was established by master printer Robert Blackburn, professor at NYU and Columbia University, to revive fine printmaking after WWII. In a 1979 letter, he recounts that he paid $15 per month for full-time use of Blackburn's lithography and etching studio. There he found his medium in printmaking and quickly began entering his prints in competitions and selling them to individuals. Profoundly inspired by his mentor Hans Hoffman (1880-1966), his interest in German culture, opera, art and literature, and travels to Europe is seen in his titles. As a skilled self-publishing printmaker, he experimented with mixing processes and achieving his goal of breaking the boundaries of traditional picture plane. His creative work spanned over 42 years reflecting late 20th century painting and printmaking trends. Over the years at the workshop, he made acquaintance with Jay Milder, Red Grooms, Philip Guston, and Franz Kline, and he became friends with Eldzier Cortor and others who came and went to explore printmaking. Shaffer stayed in contact with his one time teacher, Hans Hoffman, until his death in 1966, and attended most of his New York shows. Shaffer seemed to avoid the art market itself, but organized many exhibits and showed his work in up to 10 shows yearly.

        Shaffer started drawing directly on lithographic limestones in 1958 in the spirit of New York abstract expressionists (collection at Lost Art Salon) and in 1967, experimented with combining metal plate lithography with collagraphs (collection available at garyshafferartist.com). His expressive, energetic linear imagery reveal a conflicted private personal world, translating gesture through a difficult tool for direct expression. His early prints show influence of Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, Joan Miro, Kandinsky, Mark Rothko and Richard Diebenkorn. In 1968, he published his first multi-plate collagraphs that he referred to as gesso relief prints, using interlocking shaped masonite plates that he fabricated with metal, materials and cement paste. This transition to a different medium marked a stylistic change, exploring and deconstructing the landscape as an icon. He gained recognition through printmaking competitions and international traveling exhibits, winning awards and purchase prizes starting in 1960 with his expressionist stone lithograph “Homage to O.” 

        
After moving to San Francisco, his editions gave way to monotypes in series and color etchings as monoprints in varied editions. From 1986 - 2000, he published his prints at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA, experimenting with combining processes and composition. The results were numerous unique expressionist monoprints identified with an undecipherable numbering system. He published etchings in portfolios and bound litho woodcut collage prints into unique hand-made books. Symbols, grids and dot patterns recur throughout. His palette of mostly pure color was similar to mid-century modern. Shaffer's compositions depict a disquieted chaotic landscape with many in the Tetralogy format, divided into four or more parts, similar in concept to Andy Warhol's division of the picture plane. He described his Tetralogies as the dramatic and comedic acts of a Greek play with each section telling a story of it’s own as a unique painting. Shaffer's paintings are a link between his expressionist roots and the urban minimalist movement of the 1960’s. His early oil portraits and figures quickly gave way to non – objective gestures of abstract expressionism and then the deconstructed landscape. For over 20 years, his paintings were punctuated by liquid drip methods invented by Hoffman and made famous by Jackson Pollock. Like Belgian painter Nicolas de Stael, he applied pure, highly saturated oil colors with large brushes, trowels, palette knives. He painted in his San Francisco garden shed studio to 1993 when his health began to decline from emphysema. He lived with his dog Blanche in a spacious flat that served as a private museum of his work. Shaffer died at home surrounded by his monumental, moody paintings.

        

The actual number of works that he produced over his lifetime is unknown. His editions were very small with only 2 to 18 impressions. He did not appear to be concerned with documentation, sales and marketing after his New York period. Shaffer was somewhat shy, frugal and reclusive, but with good fortune and the support of partner William, he was able to devote himself to creative work and volunteer service to art education organizations. He was an active board member of two respected printmaking organizations, California Society of Printmakers and Society of American Graphic Artists. For decades, he wrote articles for their publications and assisted with local, national and international exchange exhibitions.

         
Lost Art Salon recently acquired a new body of works by Shaffer, in addition to the stone lithographs done between 1959 and 1969. This recent collection represents a selection of his work done between 1970 and 2001, including: collagraphs, etchings, collages, ink, gouache, pastel and mixed media.

        Featured in these Permanent Collections:
        • Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
        • Portland Art Museum
        • The Brooklyn Museum
        • Detroit Institute of Arts Print Collection
        • Art Institute of Chicago Print Collection
        • The Print Collection of the New York Public Library
        • Montclair Museum of Art
        • Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum
        
and many others
      View All _|_ View Available _|_ View Sold
      Abstracted Contrasting Forms<br>1965 Stone Lithograph<br><br>#6419
      Abstracted Contrasting Forms
      1965 Stone Lithograph

      #6419
      Gary L. Shaffer $785
      <I>Homage to O</I> <br>1962 Lithograph<br><br>#6476
      Homage to O
      1962 Lithograph

      #6476
      Gary L. Shaffer $785
      <i>#44</i> <br>1980s Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93462
      #44
      1980s Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93462
      Gary L. Shaffer $675
      <i>House Grid</i> <br>1984 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93460
      House Grid
      1984 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93460
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $665
      Sold
      <i>#61</i> <br>1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93464
      #61
      1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93464
      Gary L. Shaffer $675
      <i>#71</i> <br>1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93466
      #71
      1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93466
      Gary L. Shaffer $675
      <i>#68</i> <br>1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93468
      #68
      1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93468
      Gary L. Shaffer $675
      <i>#42</i> <br>1980s Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#B6761
      #42
      1980s Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #B6761
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $675
      Sold
      <i>Here is This House #1</i> <br>1998 Litho & Chine Colle <br><br>#11742
      Here is This House #1
      1998 Litho & Chine Colle

      #11742
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $645
      Sold
      <i>House Grid #64</i> <br>1970s-1980s Collograph Abstract <br><br>#12010
      House Grid #64
      1970s-1980s Collograph Abstract

      #12010
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $985
      Sold
      Abstracted Window Grid <br>1999 Lithograph <br><br>#96836
      Abstracted Window Grid
      1999 Lithograph

      #96836
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $495
      Sold
      Orange Triangle <br>1984 Monotype on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#96817
      Orange Triangle
      1984 Monotype on Handmade Paper with String

      #96817
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $195
      Sold
      Red Black and Blue Abstract <br>1961 Lithograph <br><br>#6408
      Red Black and Blue Abstract
      1961 Lithograph

      #6408
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $785
      Sold
      <i>Hang Down House XXI</i> <br>1994 Collograph, Lithography and Mixed Media<br><br>#12016
      Hang Down House XXI
      1994 Collograph, Lithography and Mixed Media

      #12016
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $985
      Sold
      Red and Blue <br>1965 Lithograph <br><br>#6414
      Red and Blue
      1965 Lithograph

      #6414
      Gary L. Shaffer $785
      Abstracted Boxes in Yellow, Green & Blue <br>1958 Pastel <br><br>#8273
      Abstracted Boxes in Yellow, Green & Blue
      1958 Pastel

      #8273
      Gary L. Shaffer $350
      Abstract Print with Blue Pattern <br>1999-2000 Lithograph and Chine Colle<br><br>#11700
      Abstract Print with Blue Pattern
      1999-2000 Lithograph and Chine Colle

      #11700
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $545
      Sold
      Dark Abstract Expressionist <br>1962 Stone Lithograph <br><br>#6494
      Dark Abstract Expressionist
      1962 Stone Lithograph

      #6494
      Gary L. Shaffer $785
      Modernist Green & Black Color Field Abstract <br>1965 Stone Lithograph <br><br>#12023
      Modernist Green & Black Color Field Abstract
      1965 Stone Lithograph

      #12023
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $785
      Sold
      Abstract Figure Drawing <br>Circa 1960 Pastel <br><br>#8430
      Abstract Figure Drawing
      Circa 1960 Pastel

      #8430
      Gary L. Shaffer $485
      Abstract Figure Drawing <br>Circa 1960 Graphite <br><br>#8429
      Abstract Figure Drawing
      Circa 1960 Graphite

      #8429
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $435
      Sold
      Abstracted Print in Red<br>1999 Lithograph <br><br>#96837
      Abstracted Print in Red
      1999 Lithograph

      #96837
      Gary L. Shaffer $545
      Abstracted Window <br>1999 Lithograph <br><br>#96833
      Abstracted Window
      1999 Lithograph

      #96833
      Gary L. Shaffer $545
      Abstract Print in Blue and Black<br>1997 Lithograph <br><br>#96831
      Abstract Print in Blue and Black
      1997 Lithograph

      #96831
      Gary L. Shaffer $395
      <i>House of Cards Series</i>, Abstracted Graphic Block <br>1992 Lithograph <br><br>#96829
      House of Cards Series, Abstracted Graphic Block
      1992 Lithograph

      #96829
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $435
      Sold
      <i>Intervals and Grids</i><br>1999 Lithograph on Handmade Paper<br><br>#96827
      Intervals and Grids
      1999 Lithograph on Handmade Paper

      #96827
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $435
      Sold
      Abstracted Image of a House <br>1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93467
      Abstracted Image of a House
      1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93467
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $685
      Sold
      Abstracted Image of a House <br>1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String <br><br>#93458
      Abstracted Image of a House
      1984-1988 Collograph on Handmade Paper with String

      #93458
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $675
      Sold
      Abstract Print with Gray <br>1968 Collograph<br><br>#12046
      Abstract Print with Gray
      1968 Collograph

      #12046
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $985
      Sold
      <i>Hang Down House #30</i> <br>1998 Woodcut and Lithography <br><br>#12041
      Hang Down House #30
      1998 Woodcut and Lithography

      #12041
      Gary L. Shaffer $785
      <i>House Series III</i> <br>1976 Collograph <br><br>#11956
      House Series III
      1976 Collograph

      #11956
      Gary L. Shaffer $985
      <i>Iconic Landscape XL</i> <br>1973 Collograph <br><br>#11953
      Iconic Landscape XL
      1973 Collograph

      #11953
      Gary L. Shaffer $985
      Abstracted Duel Image <br>1989 Litho & Chine Colle <br><br>#11773
      Abstracted Duel Image
      1989 Litho & Chine Colle

      #11773
      Gary L. Shaffer $575
      Abstracted Duel Image <br>1989 Litho & Chine Colle <br><br>#11780
      Abstracted Duel Image
      1989 Litho & Chine Colle

      #11780
      Gary L. Shaffer $575
      Abstracted Duel Image <br>1989 Litho & Chine Colle <br><br>#11768
      Abstracted Duel Image
      1989 Litho & Chine Colle

      #11768
      Gary L. Shaffer $575
      Abstract Print <br>1999 Lithograph, Chine Colle and Text <br><br>#11698
      Abstract Print
      1999 Lithograph, Chine Colle and Text

      #11698
      Gary L. Shaffer $545
      Organic Abstract <br>Circa 1960 Mixed Media <br><br>#8324
      Organic Abstract
      Circa 1960 Mixed Media

      #8324
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $435
      Sold
      Abstract Expressionist Painting<br>1967 Gouache<br><br>#8322
      Abstract Expressionist Painting
      1967 Gouache

      #8322
      Gary L. Shaffer $435
      Blue and Green Abstract Drawing<br>1958 Pastel <br><br>#8268
      Blue and Green Abstract Drawing
      1958 Pastel

      #8268
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $485
      Sold
      Colorful Abstract Drawing of Trees<br>1962 Pastel <br><br>#8164
      Colorful Abstract Drawing of Trees
      1962 Pastel

      #8164
      Gary L. Shaffer $485
      Colorful Abstract Drawing <br>1962 Pastel <br><br>#8158
      Colorful Abstract Drawing
      1962 Pastel

      #8158
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $485
      Sold
      <i>Iconic Landscape II</i> <br>1966 Stone Lithograph <br><br>#6393
      Iconic Landscape II
      1966 Stone Lithograph

      #6393
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $785
      Sold
      Box and Dots <br>1999 Lithograph <br><br>#96840
      Box and Dots
      1999 Lithograph

      #96840
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $495
      Sold
      Abstract Expressionist 1965 Maroon & Blue Lithograph <br><br>#6416
      Abstract Expressionist 1965 Maroon & Blue Lithograph

      #6416
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $785
      Sold
      Turquoise Graphic Cross <br>1998 Litho & Monoprint <br><br>#96823
      Turquoise Graphic Cross
      1998 Litho & Monoprint

      #96823
      Gary L. Shaffer $545
      Duel Rectangle and Triangle <br>20th Century Lithograph <br><br>#96822
      Duel Rectangle and Triangle
      20th Century Lithograph

      #96822
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $485
      Sold
      Orange Triangular Monotype <br>1984 Monotype <br><br>#96813
      Orange Triangular Monotype
      1984 Monotype

      #96813
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $195
      Sold
      <i>House Grid</i> <br>1988 Collograph <br><br>#93474
      House Grid
      1988 Collograph

      #93474
      Gary L. Shaffer Sold $675
      Sold
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