Indian Summer, 1949, 7 3/4 x 9 7/8, 1949. Courtesy of Hirschl and Adle Galleries, New York.

Forrest Bess, ca. 1952.

All photos from Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle by Chuck Smith, published by powerHouse Books, 2013.

Pages from a journal that Bess kept by his bedside.

Untitled, 9 x 12 inches, 1957. Courtesy of Kirk Hopper Fine Art

The Crowded Mind, 9 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, 1947. Courtesy of Harry Burkhart.