Description
Jay DeFeo (1929–1989) was a central figure in the Bay Area avant-garde, an artist whose restless vision spanned painting, photography, collage, and drawing. Associated with the Beat scene in San Francisco, DeFeo created works of immense intensity, fusing abstraction with raw physical presence. She was part of the historic Sixteen Americans exhibition at MoMA in 1959, and her work continues to resonate for its fearless materiality and singular devotion to process.
Her masterpiece, The Rose (1958–66), is one of the most mythic works of postwar American art—a monumental canvas weighing over a ton, layered with years of paint application, erasure, and reworking. Hidden behind a wall for decades after her death, the work has since been conserved and installed at the Whitney. Jay DeFeo and The Rose tells the story of its creation, burial, and resurrection, pairing photographs and essays with reflections from artists, curators, and critics. This volume is the definitive document of DeFeo’s obsession, contextualizing The Rose as both an extraordinary artistic achievement and a symbol of endurance.
An essential addition for collectors of Beat-era art and postwar American modernism—this book brings DeFeo’s monumental vision vividly to life.
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