Isaiah Zagar, born Irwin Zagar, attended Pratt Institute in New York in the early 1960s where he received his BA in painting and graphics. By the late 1960s he had established himself as a mosaic artist and muralist, rarely visiting the mediums in which he'd received a degree.
This rare erly etching is a window onto the artist's early career when he explored printmaking at the Pratt Institute's Graphic Art Center. It's signed "Irwin Zagar," his given name. His use of fine, busy lines and textures lends a vibrant energy to this portrait of his sister, and is reminiscent of early Picasso, an artist he took great inspiration from throughout his career.