Lot 91: Roger Kuntz (1926-1975) Concrete Canyon (Freeway Series) 59 3/4 x 72in

Roger Kuntz (1926-1975)
Concrete Canyon (Freeway Series) signed 'Kuntz' (lower right)oil on canvas59 3/4 x 72inPainted in 1962.

Provenance: Maureen Murphy Fine Arts, Montecito, California.Private collection, Southern California.ExhibitedLaguna Beach, California, Laguna Art Museum, Roger Kuntz: The Shadow Between Representation and Abstraction, March 15 – May 24, 2009.Literature: S.M. Anderson, Roger Kuntz: The Shadow Between Representation and Abstraction, Laguna Beach, Laguna Art Museum, 2009, p. 79, pl. 69 (full color illustration).We are grateful to Patricia Trenton, Ph.D., Independent Art Historian/Curator, for her assistance with this essay.It was quoted that Roger Kuntz was "one of only handful of artists in Los Angeles who achieved national recognition in the early 1960s. He did help advance regional art from Abstract Expressionism and confirmed Southern California as a regional center with a stable artistic tradition." Kuntz's biographer Susan Anderson stated that "in 1960 Roger Kuntz had an epiphany: He discovered, in the spare form of a concrete culvert in Laguna Beach ... 'simultaneity' of the real and abstract." In mid-1961, he began his celebrated Freeway series, "exploring the dynamic shapes of the ramps, pylons, tunnels, and elevated slabs of concrete with their clear patterns of light and dark," completing his freeway series over the course of a year. It was frequently quoted that the closeups and cropping in his paintings were a natural extension of his experimentation with photography.The S-curve of Concrete Canyon looks down on empty pavement from above, with its asphalt river flowing between two high walls; the painting is one that Los Angeles art critic Christopher Knight singled out from the freeways series. This painting demonstrates his artistic ability to work with light and dark and provide additional movement without the inclusion of pedestrians and vehicles. Sadly, Kuntz developed a debilitating form of cancer at age 46 and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound three years later. Roger Kuntz, born in Texas and reared at Lomaland, the Theosophical Society in Point Loma, San Diego was a Zen-Buddhist. His upbringing undoubtedly contributed to his unique talent.