Original etching with embossing on Arches paper

Signed in pencil lower right

Titled and inscribed EA (Artist Proof) 10/10

Created: circa early/mid 1970s

23 x 11 inches, image30 x 18 1/2 inches, sheet

Good condition. Some toning from previous framing.

About the artist: Gailius was biorn in Mazeikiai, Lithuania, on January 22, 1928. He spent a peaceful childhood between his home and that of his grandparents, spending much of his time outdoors. He would credit his early exposure to rural life and traditional Lithuanian folkart as a major influence throughout his career. With the onset of World War II, however, the front encroached on nearby Venta. Pranas, just 15, fled with his grandfather and mother to Latvia. Not long after their arrival, Pranas was forced to leave his family and dig trenches for the Latvian army; he wouldn't see his family again for many years. After several months he was taken to Germany where he was put in a camp for displaced people, and in 1944 he feld for Strasbourg, hiding for a time among the sympatheitc Lithuanian community he met there. When the war ended he enrolled in drawing courses at the Strasbourg School of Applied Arts. Finding that he wanted to pursue a more modernist approach than what was available, he moved to Paris in 1950. There, he studied at the F. Léger Art Academy and from 1953 at the Art School in Paris. He spent his spare time studying classical works at the Louvre and other museums.In 1955 he participated in his first exhibition, which took place at the Galerie du Haut Pavé. His work was well received by Parisian critics and his career began to take root, with offers for more exhibitions throughout Paris. It was around this time that he began signing his works "Pranas," preferring a singular name that was easy to remember as he began showing in Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. His work at this time began to depart from representational to pure abstraction, and though he worked primarily in oil painting and watercolor, he began delving into sculpture and ceramics. It wasn't until the mid 1960s that he began to work in fine print mediums, particularly blockprinting. By the early 1970s he was experimenting with deeply embossed, uninked relief printing in combination with color printing, creating textured, vivid compositions. His work was soon acquired by the French National Library, the Georges Pompidou-Beaubourg Center for Modern Art, and several other museums internationally.