Saga Dracula Primero
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View on museum website →Medium
lithograph (stone and aluminum) in pink and green-gray on Rives BFK paper
Dimensions
sheet: 12.5 x 11.8 cm (4 15/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dorothy J. and Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1983.18.260
Art Historical Context
**Saga Dracula Primero** (1968) by Billy Bengston is a vibrant lithograph that captures the artist's playful experimentation with color and form during the late 1960s. Printed in striking pink and green-gray on luxurious Rives BFK paper this intimate work measures just 12.5 x 11.8 cm, inviting close viewing. Created using both traditional stone and modern aluminum plates, the lithograph exemplifies mid-century printmaking techniques, where greasy crayons and tusche on the plate allow for rich tonal variations and precise color layering—hallmarks of Bengston's precise, graphic style. Bengston,...
About the Artist
Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston, born on June 7, 1934, in Dodge City, Kansas, embodied the sun-soaked, rebellious spirit of postwar Los Angeles after his family relocated there in 1948. His artistic training began at Los Angeles City College in 1952, where he studied ceramics under Bernard Kester. He then pursued painting under Richard Diebenkorn and Saburo Hasegawa at the California College of Arts and Crafts ...