Irving Amen, the Heart Is a Garden, Signed & Numbered Color Woodcut Print 1964

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Description

A beautifully expressive work by acclaimed American printmaker Irving Amen, The Heart is a Garden captures the quiet poetry of … Read more A beautifully expressive work by acclaimed American printmaker Irving Amen, The Heart is a Garden captures the quiet poetry of introspection and emotional growth. Executed in Amen’s signature bold, sculptural lines and richly layered colors, the composition depicts a young figure seated before an abundant bouquet of stylized flowers—each bloom rendered with symbolic geometry and vibrant hues. The imagery reflects Amen’s enduring fascination with the inner life, spirituality, and the universal search for meaning.
This hand-signed and numbered color woodcut / lithograph (edition: 15/75) showcases Amen’s mastery of printmaking, where strong contrasts, carved textures, and harmonious tones come together to create depth and emotional resonance. The piece is presented in a complementary frame and retains its original margins, where the artist has titled and signed the work in pencil.
A striking and contemplative print—perfect for collectors of mid-century American art, figurative expressionism, and fine printmaking.

Dimensions: 31.50” H 23.75” W 1.75" D
Matted: 29” H 21.85” W
Unmatted : 24.65” H 16” W

About the artist :
Born in New York City in 1918, Amen began drawing at the young age of four. By the time he was fourteen years old, he won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute. He emulated Michelangelo's masterpieces and spent years perfecting his own unique style.
From 1942 to 1945 he served with the Armed Forces. He headed a mural project and executed murals in the United States and Belgium.
He had his first exhibition was at the New School for Social Research in New York and his second at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington in 1949. His travels throughout Israel, Greece and Turkey in 1960 led to a retrospective at the Artists House in Jerusalem.
Irving Amen then studied in Paris where he had one-man shows in painting, woodcut and sculpture. Besides practicing his art, Amen also taught classes in sculptor and printmaking at such schools as the Pratt Institute (1961) and at Notre Dame University(1962).
Commissions include a Peace Medal in honor of the Vietnam War and 12 stained glass windows for the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Ohio.
He is listed in Mantle Fielding Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers and the Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists by Paul Cummings. Amen died at the age of 93 in 2011 in Florida. See less