Sky Art (Portfolio)

Article description

Portfolio work 'Sky Art', illustrated 25 lithographs on laid paper, each signed, 69 dated, numbered 5/20, printed and edited by Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles. Otto Piene's Sky Art (1969) is one of the artist's most important and ambitious print projects, conceived and executed at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. Offered here is copy number 5 of 20, complete and in excellent condition. Comprising twenty-five large-scale lithographs, the portfolio functions as a cohesive conceptual statement rather than a conventional print series. Each plate presents a visionary proposal for art realized in the sky— looping aerial trajectories, manned helium sculptures, participatory crowd formations, urban mirages, reflective cloud fields, nocturnal light events, and radiant emblems suspended above civic space. The suite progresses from diagrammatic and proposal-like compositions to increasingly atmospheric and theatrical images, culminating in iconic plates such as Black Sun and Flaming Rainbow. Printed in an imposing format of approximately 35 x 25 inches per sheet, the works possess remarkable visual presence. The lithographs combine bold graphic structure with subtle tonal passages; several integrate photo-based processes with drawn elements, reflecting Tamarind's technical innovation and Piene's experimental approach during the late 1960s. The portfolio opens with a title page and table of contents and concludes with a colophon, underscoring its intentional structure as a unified body of work. This example, numbered 5/20, is complete with all twenty-five lithographs present. Each sheet is signed, dated "69," and numbered in pencil, with Tamarind workshop blindstamp and notations. The impressions are strong and well-preserved, with full margins and no visible condition issues affecting image or paper. Complete portfolios from the numbered edition of 20 are considerably rarer on the market than individual sheets, which are frequently separated. As a fully intact example in excellent condition, copy 5/20 represents a significant opportunity to acquire one of Piene's most important and museum-recognized print portfolios.

Rottloff 33-57