Jose Ramon Lerma (1930-2013) American, A Pair of Abstract Sketches. Both signed and dated lower right. Depicts two earthquakes registering on a seismograph, probably.

Both overall size: 12 3/4 X 11 3/4 in.

Both sight size: 6 1/2 X 4 3/4 in.

# 1597, #1598 .

Jose Ramon Lerma was born in Salinas Valley near San Francisco in 1930, and lived there his whole life. The oldest of ten children, he found his calling as one of the first Latino students to attend the California School of Fine Arts in 1948. Drafted into the U.S. Army at the start of the Korean War, Lerma was stationed close to the front. His experiences there transformed him as a person and as an artist, and he became staunchly anti-war. After the war he attended the Art Institute, studying Abstract Expressionism under Elmer Bischoff, Nathan Oliviera, Hassell Smith and Dorr Bothwell. Immersed in San Francisco's Beat Culture, he was integral to the burgeoning gallery scene of the 1950s with solo exhibitions at East-West Gallery, The Cellar, and the Russian Hill Gallery. His work was featured in numerous group exhibitions including the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the National Steinbeck Center, and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. The Jose Ramon Lerma Archive in UC Santa Barbara’s Special Collections contains the majority of his letters and uncategorized works. He died peacefully in his bed in 2013.

Location Box 2