Northwest Modernists, Spokane and American Artists | Spokane Artists | Harold Balazs (Northwest Art Collection: Works On Paper)

Northwest Art Collection: Works On Paper

Northwest Modernists, Spokane and American Artists : Spokane Artists : Harold Balazs

Name: Harold Balazs

Nationality: American

Affiliation: Spokane Artist

Harold Balazs was born in Ohio in 1928. His mother encouraged his interest in art and the family often traveled to Cleveland to attend symphony and visit museums. Balazs also received invaluable hands-on experience working in his father's sheet metal and air conditioning business where he developed metal fabrication skills working with complex shapes. Balazs began studying aeronautical engineering at a junior college in Chicago, but a dispute with a professor caused him to enroll in another course. This landed him in an art class and steered him in a different career direction. Because his parents had moved to Spokane, Balazs moved west and continued his studies at Washington State College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. Early in his post-graduate career Balazs made ends meet teaching classes at the YWCA, the Spokane Art Center, and Washington State College Extension in Spokane. Ultimately he chose to forego the security of teaching because it required "having to be at the same place at the same time every day of your life." For the same reason he avoided production artwork. In 1951, he teamed up with artist Patrick Flammia to produce a mural for the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane. This was the first of countless alliances with architects and business leaders for commissioned work in public buildings. His ingenuity revived the importance of the individual craftsman in architecturally integrated art through collaborations with important regional architects at a time when architectural art seemed to be at its most anonymous. By the mid-1960s, Harold Balazs had become the leading liturgical artist in the Northwest, often incorporating enamel on steel works. Internationally known for his large-scale enamels on steel, Balazs ingeniously adapted studio practice to industrial settings. His experience with public art led to a three term appointment as a Washington State Arts Commissioner during which time he helped draft Washington State's "percent for art" legislation. The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture owns thirty works by Harold Balazs. Sources: Judy Laddon, Harold Balazs: Art is an Art Form, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, 1999. Harold Balazs - Creating Wonder [electronic document] (Seattle, Washington: Living Treasures Project, accessed 17 July 2006); available from http://www.livingtreasuresproject.org/ index.html; Internet.

 
Back from Egypt

Back from Egypt

Date: 1971
Image Dimensions: 25 x 19 5/8 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "Back from Egypt a.p.," lower left margin; "HB 71," lower right margin
Subject: Egypt
Provenance: Gift of Harold... [more]
Clown

Clown

Date: 1951
Image Dimensions: 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches (image)
Medium: ink,drypoint,paper
More » Inscription: "Clown," lower left margin; "Balazs,: lower right margin; "51," lower right margin
Subject:... [more]
Echoes

Echoes

Date: 1988
Image Dimensions: 21 1/4 x 21 inches (image)
Medium: Silkscreen
More » Inscription: "Echoes 8/100," lower left; "HB," lower right; "88," lower right
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Entry: 0637 / The Orion Notebooks

Entry: 0637 / The Orion Notebooks

Date: 1989
Image Dimensions: 17 1/8 x 12 1/2 inches (image)
Medium: Lithograph
More » Inscription: "15/30 ," lower right margin; "James Bertolino," lower left margin; "Harold Balalzs," lower right... [more]
Ladies Day

Ladies Day

Date: 1950
Image Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 9 1/8 inches (image)
Medium: ink wash
More » Inscription: "Ladies Day," lower left on margin; signed on the back of the mat; "1950, student wk ink wash," center, back of the... [more]
Moonlite on Blue Lake

Moonlite on Blue Lake

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 21 1/8 x 19 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "Moonlite on Blue Lake, 30/45," lower left margin; "HB," lower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Subject:... [more]
Museum Piece

Museum Piece

Date: 1988
Image Dimensions: 13 1/8 x 13 1/8 inches (image)
Medium: silk screen
More » Inscription: "Museum Piece A.P.,", lower left; "HB,", Lower right; "'88," lower right
Subjects: Cheney Cowles Museum and... [more]
Night Scene

Night Scene

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 12 3/4 x 9 5/8 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "Night Scene, 10/22," lower left margin; "HB," ower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Provenance: Gift of... [more]
Petunia

Petunia

Date: 1974
Image Dimensions: 14 1/4 x 10 inches (support)
Medium: Watercolor
More » Inscription: "Petunia," verso; "HB," lower margin, front; " '74," lower margin, front
Subject: flower
Provenance: Gift of... [more]
Rolling Roadside

Rolling Roadside

Date: 1990
Image Dimensions: 20 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches (image)
Medium: paper,Watercolor
More » Inscription: "Rolling Roadside," pencil, bottom margin; "hB.90," lower right margin; "May 4-8/1990, Harold Balazs," lower... [more]
Secret Falls

Secret Falls

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 20 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "Secret Falls, 9/50," lower left margin; "HB," lower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Subjects:... [more]
Snags at Sunset

Snags at Sunset

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 18 1/ 2 x 12 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "Snags at Sunset 24/30," lower left margin; " HB," lower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Subjects:... [more]
The MV Menhir

The MV Menhir

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 15 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "The MV Menhir, 14/24," lower left margin; "HB," lower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Subject:... [more]
The Rift

The Rift

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 18 x 16 3/4 inches (image)
Medium: Serigraph
More » Inscription: "The Rift, 3/24," lower left margin; "HB," lower right margin; " '91," lower right margin
Provenance: Gift of Harold... [more]
The Toast

The Toast

Date: 1989
Image Dimensions: 14 3/8 x 17 inches (image)
Medium: Lithograph
More » Inscription: "10/32," lower right margin; "James Bertolino," lower left margin; "Harold Balalzs," lower right margin
Subject:... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: 1949
Image Dimensions: 13 1/4 x 16 inches (image)
Medium: Lithograph
More » Inscription: "1st lithograph ever pulled," upper right, verso; "3APs, 2 prints in edition," upper right, verso; "Harold Balazs,"... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: c. 1970
Image Dimensions: 14 3/4 x 9 inches (image)
Medium: chalk,paper
More » Inscription: "HB," lower center
Subjects: woman and nude
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: ca.1970
Image Dimensions: 17 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: paper,Pastel
More » Inscription: "HB," lower center
Subjects: man, woman, and nude
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: c. 1970
Image Dimensions: 6 3/4 x 8 inches (image)
Medium: graphite,paper
More » Inscription: "HB," lower center margin
Subjects: nude, woman, and book
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: c. 1970
Image Dimensions: 10 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches (image)
Medium: graphite,paper
More » Inscription: "HB," lower center margin
Subjects: woman and nude
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: c. 1970
Image Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: paper,graphite
More » Inscription: "HB," lower center margin
Subjects: woman and nude
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary Balazs,... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 18 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: Stenciled monoprint
More » Curator Notes: Ink and turpentine drawing on paper. Study for an enamel stencil.
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary... [more]
Untitled

Untitled

Date: 1991
Image Dimensions: 18 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches (image)
Medium: ink,paper,turpentine
More » Curator Notes: Ink and turpentine drawing on paper. Study for an enamel stencil.
Provenance: Gift of Harold and Rosemary... [more]