Aries IV: Ram in a Thicket

Elizabeth Quandt

Elizabeth Quandt included this image in her portfolio of etchings which she titled "Aries." The suite was four images, etchings of a ram's skull that had been found by her grandson while they were on a hike in the Mendocino County countryside. The horns of the ram had gotten wedged in some small trees and the ram was unable to free itself.

The "Aries" suite was done as a portfolio in an edition of 25, numbered from 1 to 25. There were also 25 impressions issued as single prints, editioned from 26 to 50, such as this etching which is numbered 28/50. "Aries" is the first sign of the zodiac and is represented by the ram, hence the title for the suite.

Elizabeth Quandt was born Elizabeth Gunn in Oxfordshire, England on July 13, 1922. Her father, Sir Herbert James Gunn, was a portrait painter to the Queen of England. Elizabeth studied at Queen Anne’s School in Reading, England. During the Second World War she met and married American William Mailliard and they moved to San Francisco, California.

After their marriage failed, Elizabeth met the photographer William (Bill) Quandt, who was an assistant for photographer Ansel Adams, and they soon married. Bill Quandt ran a successful stereo business in Santa Rosa, California and Elizabeth attended the Santa Rosa Junior College, where she eventually taught printmaking. See our biography for more information.