Original soft-ground etching, “Sunflower,” by influential artist and printmaker Robert A. Cale became the possession of the lucky winner of a drawing held on September 15 for the benefit of the Wildling Art Museum.

Robert A. Cale (1940-1990) lived most of his life in Stonington, Connecticut. He was trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and apprenticed to the famous etcher, Stanley Hayter, at his Atelier 17 in Paris. He taught printmaking for many years in New York, Michigan, and in several cities in Connecticut, as well as his own studio in Stonington. He was classically trained as a printmaker, but was also an innovator in nature printing, becoming particularly famous for his fish prints.

Cale’s prints are in the collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France; Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; New York Public Library, NYC; Yale University Art Collection, New Haven, CT; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA.

This print utilizes the classic etching technique of soft-ground, but the image that is etched into the plate was created by pressing the actual sunflower plant into the soft ground. Authenticated and given to the Wildling Art Museum by the artist’s daughter to sell for the benefit of the Museum. The mat and frame were donated by Young’s Gallery in Los Olivos.

The print was on view at the Museum, 2329 Jonata Street, Los Olivos. Public hours are Wed-Sun. 11-5. Tickets for the raffle were $25.00 each and only 250 were sold.