Phrygian

Collection in Focus: Martin Puryear's Prints

In January 2021, the Morgan acquired an exceptional group of twenty prints by Martin Puryear. Made between 2001 and 2014 at Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA, they represent nearly all the prints Puryear made during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and include several of his most important works in this medium.

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Martin Puryear
1941-
Phrygian
Softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and spitbite aquatint with chine collé.
Image: 23 3/4 x 17 5/8 inches (60.3 x 44.8 cm); sheet: 34 3/4 x 27 5/8 inches (88.2 x 70.2 cm)
Anonymous gift in honor of Katharine J. Rayner.
2021.17
© Martin Puryear, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery.
Curatorial Comments: 

One of the most important contemporary American sculptors, Martin Puryear (b. 1941) has also made drawings throughout his career. Dating back to the Roman empire and popularized as a symbol of liberty during the French Revolution, the Phrygian cap was adopted in the 1790s by enslaved people struggling for their freedom in the Americas. Puryear explored the motif in several sculptures and works on paper. Here he heightened the dramatic effect of this powerful symbol by enlarging it to the full size of the plate and exploiting the tonal properties of aquatint to create a vivid, mottled background.

Published: 
Berkeley, Calif. : Paulson Bott Press, 2012
Provenance: 
Renée Bott.
Notes: 

AP 8 from an edition of 50 with 12 artist proofs.

Catalog link: 
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Artist page: 
Puryear, Martin
Century: 
21st century
Classification: 
Print
Department: 
Modern and Contemporary Drawings