Personal Epiphany

 

Adja Yunkers

  1900 - 1983 (biography)

1953  

color woodcut 

43 3/4 x 20" image size 

lower right, pencil 

not stated, from Polyptych, a set of five woodcuts done in an edition of seven 

from Polyptych, a set of five woodcuts done in an edition of seven, most of which were destroyed by the collapse of the ceiling of the artist's studio 

 

antique-white handmade Japanese 

published 

 

20877 

SOLD

This rare large color woodcut was originally meant to be part of a Polyptych, a set of five woodcuts done in an edition of seven. This print was the left middle panel and used 25 colors, printed from 4 blocks to create the image. Each panel was also meant to stand on its own.

Curator Una Johnson, in her introduction in the Brooklyn Museum's "American Graphic Artists..." monograph number 7, "Yunkers Prints 1927-1967" commented about this image:

"To the left of the central composition a large rectangular panel entitled 'Personal Epiphany' in strong contrasting colors depicts two differing moods.\, a singular happy one reminiscent of the simplified beliefs noted in the New Mexico santos. this mood is thrust into the background by the dark angular figure whose presence overshadows but does not obliterate the two figures.Their existence in turn is emphasized by their placement in the immediate foreground."

Most of these prints were lost in a collapse of the plaster ceiling in the artist's studio.