Tony DeLap was born in 1927. Having spent most of his life near water, DeLap, the son of a lawyer, grew up near the border between Richmond and El Cerrito, California. Gazing across the Bay, he was able to see the building of the Golden Gate Bridge from his house. He studied at several Bay Area colleges, including the San Francisco Academy of Art and the Claremont Colleges in Southern California. Courses would include illustration, graphic design, and art.

During the 1950s and 1960s, DeLap was employed by trade show exhibitions and did freelance graphic design while applying his talents at painting and sculptures. From an early age, he associated himself with an emerging movement of West Coast 'minimalists' known as "finish fetish",...