Pablo Picasso lithograph of Dove 1969

I am not a huge Picasso fan, but i do like this print. This print is very simple but very powerful at the same time. There is not a whole lot going on as it is an image of just one dove standing. There is no real motion to the image but yet it has a good eye drawing appeal to it. The dove contrasts very well against the black background and has a lot of detail, more than I am used to seeing in one of his pieces. The feathers and the head clearly make out that this is a dove and I think that is what I like most about it. It is very simple and satisfying.

Richard Parkes Bonington

This is one of my favorite lithographs I have see to date. The realism of this image and the composition give this piece a thumbs up in my book. The subtle background really makes the clock tower pop as well as the bustling crowd underneath. The detail is astonishing and has rivaled much of what I have seen today in lithography. The detail in the figures as well as the architecture gives the piece a well rounded feel. One can really capture the essence of the every day life of this town with the figures in the foreground. The clock tower is my favorite part of this piece, the detail in the stone as well as the clock itself give this composition a very good feel.

"Cradling Wheat" : Thomas Hart Benton

The curves of this image give it a surreal effect almost like an MC Escher piece. The theme of this piece is of a community harvesting wheat which is a backbreaking task to say the least. The image is very powerful and very skillfully done. Although its surreal appeal, the figures are done with great realism. The curved line scheme gives and the quality of the drawing give this piece a wonderful composition. Thomas Heart grew up in rural Missouri so his roots in images such as this were common in his life.

"City of Words" by Vito Acconci

This piece caught my attention because of the use of the vanishing point. I have always been a fan of pieces that use such direction and poise. The wording on all the buildings adds to the depth of the image. The words wrap around the buildings and feed into the dimensional aspect of the print. The print itself is very well done and if it was done by hand, it must have taken a while. The people walking in the image are brightly colored and are heavily contrasted from the black ans while background. This addition takes this piece to another level. Vito Acconci was the son of an Italian immigrant and was taught in several art institutions. He began his life as a poet and moved into other fields of art as his life progressed. It was in 1999 when he produced this work and it marks one of his finest pieces in my opinion.

Night Tower

Frederic James (1915-1985) was born in Kansas City, Missouri and was originally an architect. He gave up architecture and dedicated his life to painting, but soon his career was interrupted by World War II. After he returned he continued with his art and teaching career at the Art Institute. Through his career, James completed, "Night Tower," which is an image of oil drilling. This image depicts several oil workers drilling through the night at an industrial oil facility. This image shows great contrast of light and dark. James executed the industrial structure very well as the spotlights bounce off the metal structure. His architectural influence shows through in this structure as well. One really gets the feel that this is at night. He also portrayed the strain in the worked very well. The stretching and wrinkles of the clothing emphasize the hard work that they are doing. The casting of all the shadows is very realistic and gives this a photo realistic quality. James had quite a talent for painting and printmaking as this lithograph shows. His switch from architecture proved to be a prosperous one.

Waiting for Work

Harry Gottlieb was born in Bucharest, Rumania. After immigrating to America he attended the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, and the National Academy of Design. "Waiting for Work," c.1935 was done while Gottlieb was a member of the Woodstock artist community in New York. Gottlieb was known as one of America's first Social Realist artists and was also possibly a member of the Communist party. While he was part of this party he did, "Waiting for Work," which depicts a social protest. The lithograph depicts, "social protest in the depths of the depression with its unemployed workmen huddled in pain and anger around a winter's fire." I would think this must have been a very powerful image for the time as it still holds some bearing in these harsh economic times. The image gives you the impression of how cold everyone is with their collars popped as they huddle closer and closer to the fire. The gloom on the faces you can see is met with the factory almost lost in the mountainside in the background.

Craig Randall

Craig Randall's "Apache Strikes a Hind; the Hunter Becomes the Hunted," is something that caught my eye. There is a lot of energy to this piece. The fact that it captures an act of war gives this piece a different spin of emotions that one would feel when they see this. He has a whole collection of aviation art, but this is the only one that has action to it. One can see that in war things can change very fast and you can become the hunted in a matter of seconds. The detail of the helicopter itself shows that he wanted that to be the focal point. The background is very subtle and filled with earth tones that make the actions of the helicopters themselves pop. The detail in the landscape is not as tight and refined as in the helicopters as well. This gives a great weight to the helicopters. This picture also catches my eye because I am a big fan of planes and helicopters. I like to go to air shows and I have been in several helicopter rides. Hopefully I will never be in a situation that this lithograph depicts, but I find it very interesting ans well done.