Cranbrook Cannon

Robert Allen Nelson

This rare lithograph by Robert Nelson was printed with Master Printer Glen Brill. It has a number of collaged elements attached, including fish hooks in a plastic bag and cut-out elements at the top of the composition.

The Cranbrook "Cannon" was a sculpture done by Julius Schmidt who was Artist-in-Residence in Sculpture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1964 to 1968. He was nicknamed “the grandfather of iron” for introducing iron casting to the fine arts department while at Cranbrook. Cannon was created collaboratively by Schmidt and his students. Titled simply Cannon, it is composed of a cast iron wheels, cast iron cannon body, and bronze field carriage. The work was dedicated to Zoltan Sepeshy, president of the Academy of Art from 1946 to 1966. Cannon was first fired at convocation in 1966, and again as part of a performance in 1991.