Roderick Mead (New Mexico / New York, 1900-1971), "The Tortilla Maker", 1954, oil on canvas, with exhibition label from New Mexico Modern Art Gallery

sight: 40 x 30 in., frame: 48.5 x 38.5 in.

Provenance: Property from a home in San Antonio, Texas

Roderick Fletcher Mead was a Yale-trained artist known for his innovative printmaking and surrealist-infused style. After earning his fine arts degree from Yale in 1925, he studied at the Art Students League under George Luks and later at the Grand Central School of Art, focusing on watercolor with George Pearse Ennis. Mead's artistic development deepened during his time in Paris at Atelier 17, where he studied printmaking with Stanley William Hayter alongside influential artists like Miró, Picasso, and Kandinsky. His work, particularly his later Zodiac print series, is celebrated for its fusion of myth, science, and abstraction. Mead exhibited widely during his career and remained active in the arts until his death in 1971.