11.2.81

Frank Lobdell

This intaglio was printed at 3EP Ltd. in Palo Alto, California. The name referred to three equal partners, which were Paula Kirkeby, Mary Margaret Anderson, and Joseph Goldyne.

Most of Lobdell's color monotypes and intaglios are designated by the month, day and year of execution rather than a formal title. For the viewer, this approach eliminated any prejudgment caused inadvertently by a title.

Frank Lobdell left for Paris in 1951 and enrolled in the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. Walt Kuhlman joined him in Paris and they were included in the exhibition 6erne Salon des Realites Nouvelles at the Petit Palais in 1951. That same year Lobdell returned to San Francisco and established a studio and was an influential part of the San Francisco Abstract Expressionist movement in the 1950s.

His distinguished teaching career began in 1957 at the California School of Fine Arts where, according to art historian and critic Thomas Albright, "he was one of the most influential teachers." In 1966, he was Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University and he joined the Stanford faculty the following year. He was Professor of Art until his retirement from Stanford in 1991.