Billy Jarhmarkt (American, 1936-1973)

Billy Jahrmarkt came from a wealthy New York family and moved to San Francisco, where he met Michael McClure and Bruce Conner. He started the Batman Gallery in San Francisco in 1960, but sold it only after two years as his lifestyle clashed with the responsibilities of running a business. Jahrmarkt moved to Los Angeles where he acquired a Verifax machine. He experimented with the machine for a brief time, producing only a limited amount of works, amongst which the present lot. He gave the machine to Wallace Berman, with whom he was close in these years, until Berman moved to Topanga in 1966.

According to an inscription on the reverse, the present lot is a portrait of Aisha Kandisha.