by d.a. levy
Large original oil painting by the Cleveland poet, alternative publisher, and artist
[Cleveland, OH]: [No Publisher], 1966. Signed original oil painting with naturalistic themes on paper measuring 74 x 56 cm (29.25" x 22"), affixed to backing board , 89 x 71 cm (35" x 18"). Signed and dated by d.a. levy in the bottom right corner. Very Good, painting has horizontal folds, likely from being mailed; faint spotting/foxing to painting and backing board, occasional tiny chip or closed tear along edge; backing board has light wear, tape residue and abraded areas to backside. Provenance: originally owned by the late author E.R. Baxter, who profiled it in his book Niagara Digressions.
Original artwork of this size by the prolific Cleveland poet, publisher, artist d.a. levy is quite rare in commerce. He referred to his large paintings as "posters advertising nothing." He was a one-man artistic factory in the then-nascent mimeo poetry movement, where decentralized, cheap production of books and lit mags meant that rebels like levy were able to escape the confines of "good taste" and the postwar political consensus with a brashness that prefigured punk. His struggles with censorship by the Cleveland police's Red Squad are legendary, and his death at only 26, ruled a suicide, left a gaping hole in the counterculture.