Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Facings: Black Men / Black Women

Preview image of work. chromolithograph on Arches Cover white paper, Facings: Black Men / Black Women 15043

1989.23.1

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Facings: Black Men / Black Women

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Artist

Leon Golub (Leon Albert Golub) (Chicago, Illinois, 1/23/1922 – 8/8/2004, New York, NY)

Title

Facings: Black Men / Black Women

Creation Date

1988

Century

20th century

Dimensions

29 1/2 in. x 42 1/8 in. (74.93 cm x 107 cm)

Object Type

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

chromolithograph on Arches Cover white paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1989.23.1

Leon Golub, a World War II veteran who criticized artists associated with Abstract Expressionism for being removed from the pressing political issues of the time, promulgated painting as an act of witnessing or “paying attention.” Golub’s controversial figurative work responds to everyday violence as well as larger abuses of political power. Golub produced Facings during years of rapid political changes: the dissolution of the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and escalating tensions in Apartheid-era South Africa. The smiling, calm faces in Facings: Black Men are aligned with crisp vertical lines whose color blends into their contours. In Facings: Black Women, by contrast, gaunt, fatigued, and distorted-looking heads appear to haunt the visual field. The title suggests a possible confrontation, perhaps related to matters of gender and power on both a domestic and international scale.