Sea Wake
1960
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View on museum website →Medium
lithograph in blackish-green on Rives BFK paper
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1964.8.2058
Art Historical Context
Garo Antreasian's *Sea Wake* (1960) is a striking lithograph rendered in a moody blackish-green ink on luxurious Rives BFK paper evoking the mysterious depths of the ocean. As a master printmaker, Antreasian the fluid motion suggested by the title—perhaps the trailing wake of a ship orulating waves—through the precise yet expressive qualities of lithography. This planographic technique, which relies on the natural repulsion of oil and water, allowed artists like Antreasian to achieve rich tonal variations and subtle textures, making it ideal for conveying atmospheric seascapes. Created during...
About the Artist
Garo Antreasian
Garo Zareh Antreasian (1922–2018), an American artist of Armenian descent born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to parents who survived the 1915 Armenian genocide, discovered lithography at age seventeen while attending Arsenal Technical High School, using abandoned equipment there. He earned a BFA from the Herron School of Art in 1948, served as a combat artist in the Pacific during World War II, and th...