Journey Without End

Lawrence Calcagno (1913-93) was a painter of the San Francisco school of Abstract Expressionism, and, as described by Gerald Nordland, "a proud, self-reliant, and independent figure in postwar American art." He taught at a number of schools and universities, received many invitations for residencies and guest professorships, and had two major retrospective exhibitions in his lifetime, yet his work fell out of favor for a time. The acclaim he hoped for, and deserved, is materializing for the most part posthumously. Nordland says that "his best work adds importantly to the achievements of his Abstract Expressionist generation; and like his peers, his work continued to grow in physical power for many years." This beautiful book surveys the work of a fifty-year career and shows Calcagno to have been an artist of depth and talent.