Overview
Collection Information
Size: 2.3 Linear feet
Summary: Over 300 pencil and pencil and ink drawings, circa 1950s-1960s, mostly contained in sketchbooks and tablets, as well as numerous loose sketches and several mixed-media works on board. Also found are Altoon's letters and a ship's log dating from his years of WWII Navy service in the Pacific.
An addition of 0.6 linear feet donated 2017 included approximately 100 sketches by John Altoon, 1956-1966 and undated, created in printmaker Kenneth Tyler's Los Angeles workshop.
Biographical/Historical Note
John Altoon (1925-1969) was a painter in Los Angeles, Calif. Altoon (born Altoonian), was a major figure in the Los Angeles art scene from the 1950s until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He began painting in the abstract-expressionist style, but by the mid-1960s his works turned to the figure, characterized by skillful draftsmanship and sexual imagery.
Provenance
Donated 1998 by Roberta L. Thompson, John Altoon's widow and in 2017 by printmaker Kenneth E. Tyler who collaborated on projects with John Altoon.
Language Note
English .
