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OHRA 1982

Vanishing American Eagle #1

Art 1978 – 82
The plate was designed and etched in spring 1978 while the artist was in graduate art school in St Louis, Missouri. It was originally titled, if my memory serves, Homage to the Mayans I; of which perhaps one proof was printed, in a monochromatic sepia ink.
Plate (image) size: 3 ft high x 2 ft wide
This color proof was printed in Seattle in 1982. Four proofs were printed with this color imagery.

Of the other 3 proofs, one was purchased by Lisa Harris, now retired owner of the Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle's Pike Market, and sold by the gallery. That gallery is now on First Ave near the Pike Market.

It’s now called the Harris Harvey Gallery. They had, and may still have, 2 etchings by Segan that are available for purchase. The gallery website: harrisharveygallery

Collections

  • Port of Seattle. A proof of the Vanishing American Eagle no. 1 etching and aquatint is in the collection of the Port of Seattle building, on the waterfront a bit south of Myrtle Edwards Park. It is reportedly installed in a conference room.

  • First Interstate Bank of Washington. A proof was purchased in Dec. 1981 by First Interstate Bank of Washington. That bank also purchased a companion etching of the same size, similar colors, titled "Hieroglyph No. 1;" the proof purchased by the bank was the sole proof printed from the etching plate. For some years the 2 etchings were installed in the the bank’s Legal Division offices on the 46th floor of First Interstate Tower, downtown Seattle. First Interstate sold their western Washington branches some years ago.

According to an assistant to the president of Wells Fargo Bank of Washington (in May 2014; Wells Fargo now occupies a number of floors of what had been the FIT building) they do not know what happened to the two etchings when Wells Fargo bought First Interstate Bank of Washington. Wells Fargo executives declined to state if the 2 framed proofs were in the list of items to be transferred from First Interstate to Wells Fargo at the time of the change of ownership from FIB  to Wells Fargo..

As there are some First Interstate Bank branches in Washington state, east of the Cascades mountain range in eastern Washington state, it’s possible the Vanishing American Eagle # 1 and the Hieroglyph No. 1 etching and aquatint prints might be in one of the bank branches there. If not, they would have been stolen by someone from either FIB or Wells Fargo.