Roy De Forest

Who was Roy De Forest?

Roy De Forest was an American painter.

Born in North Platte, Nebraska to migrant farm workers, Roy De Forest grew up in Yakima, Washington and attended junior college there. In 1950 he moved to California to study at the California School of Fine Arts, where he earned a bachelor's degree. After serving in the US Army, De Forest went on to earn his master's degree at San Francisco State College.

De Forest's first exhibition was in 1955, and the work reflected the influence of Abstract Expressionism, along with a developing interest in assemblage.

By the early 1960s De Forest's work had grown more representational, and began to include suggestions of maps and motifs evocative of persons and animals. By the late 1960s this transformation was nearly complete, as De Forest's work now freely mixed patterns and non-objective elements along with recognizable forms such as people, landscapes, and most notably, animals.

De Forest's work also began to reflect his surroundings and life in Port Costa, California, with elements such as old brick buildings, birds, and dogs becoming more commonplace in his compositions.