Gene Kloss

Gene Kloss (1903-1996) aka Alice Geneva Glasier, attended the University of California at Berkeley and in 1924 continued her studies at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts. After marrying, she went by the more masculine name Gene believing her work would be more widely accepted in shows where women were usually denied. Largely self-taught as a printmaker, Kloss experimented with various effects. She developed and perfected a technique she called “painting,” now recognized as her own, unique style. Through the direct application of acid onto copper plates with pencils or fine Japanese brushes, Kloss achieved the subtle, painted tones, bright halos, and grades of dark for which she is well known. The mastery of her printmaking won her a place beside Ernest L. Blumenschein and Georgia O’Keeffe in a major Paris exhibition in 1938. Her prints won numerous honors and awards and she was featured in Fine Prints of the Year and 100 Best Prints of the Year.