Phrygian

Martin PuryearWW-2012-111599

2012·Soft ground etching, spit-bite, drypoint and aquatint in black and gray on cream wove paper, laid down on white wove paper (chine collé)·Image/plate: 60.5 × 45.2 cm (23 7/8 × 17 13/16 in.); Sheet: 88.5 × 70.6 cm (34 7/8 × 27 13/16 in.)

Puryear has used several works to explore the shape of the Phrygian cap, a symbol of liberty popularized by the French Revolution. While he was familiar with the numerous depictions of the cap, it was only after he began the sculpture Big Phrygian, in 2014, that he came across an early engraving of a black man wearing one. Dating to 1794, the year that slavery was abolished in France, the image depicts a freed slave with the caption Moi libre aussi (I am free too).

Catalogue

Year: 2012
Medium: Soft ground etching, spit-bite, drypoint and aquatint in black and gray on cream wove paper, laid down on white wove paper (chine collé)
Dimensions: Image/plate: 60.5 × 45.2 cm (23 7/8 × 17 13/16 in.); Sheet: 88.5 × 70.6 cm (34 7/8 × 27 13/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Martin Puryear

Artist

Martin Puryear

Sculpture

Martin L. Puryear is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in a variety of media, but primarily wood, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries of his materials.

Washington, D.C., USA

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