Karl Kasten was born in San Francisco in 1916. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Un. of California at Berkeley and was a student of Hans Hofmann in 1952 in Provincetown. Susan Landauer who authored "San Francisco and the Second Wave: The Blair Collection of Bay Area of Abstract Expressionism" is quoted that Kasten was the artist who most successfully absorbed Hofmann's teachings. He is known for his abstract paintings as well as a print maker and the designer of his own printing press. He taught at the California School of Fine Art, Un. of Michigan, SF State College and at UC Berkeley from 1950-1983 where he is professor emeritus. He exhibited at the de Young Museum, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of Art among others.