Roy DeForest - Ode to Rin Tin Tin
American, 1930 - 2007
Ode to Rin Tin Tin, 2002
Woodcut, pochoir, and lithograph, 34 x 39 inches
Edition 19/30
Shark's Ink
02.020

Gift of Kathleen J. Crispell (LSA '67) and Thomas S. Porter (MBA '67)

Roy De Forest is associated with the Funk art movement that was centered in the California Bay area. With whimsical irreverence, he creates paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints of a zany world of weird human beings and goofy, beady-eyed dogs.

Ode to Rin Tin Tin is a mixed media print that is dusted with pearlescent powder and hand coloring - applied to the eyes with acrylic paint straight from the end of the tube. It is presented in an eccentric sculptural frame made by the artist. Rin Tin Tin, the famous and noble German Shepherd of Hollywood and television fame, is grouped together with other animals, people, and various abstract shapes. No dangerous exploits here for Rin Tin Tin, only canine silliness affectionately celebrated by the artist.