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52. Francis Bernard Shields (1908-?) The Descent
Lithograph, ca. 1940, 298 x 430 mm. Fine impression on wove paper with full margins, signed and titled in pencil. Francis or Frank Shields was born in New York City, studied at Columbia University, did art work for the WPA, showed at the Museum of Modern Art and illustrated several books. Apart from that, we can find out little about him. But if his life is somewhat obscure, how about the print? Surrealist, yes; we are once again in dreams. Bizarre, yes; the image is totally unexpected. The diving figure is clear enough, but is that the eye (with a five-lobed pupil) of a monstrous sea creature or, if not, what is it? And once again, we are faced with the question: what is the meaning of all this? Redon’s devil (despite the difference of style, one might see Redon as the progenitor of this image), in the Tentation de Saint-Antoine, might answer “There is no meaning.” It just is. |
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