United News, 1945, from the series Über Dresden

Lawrence Gipe, Published by Segura Publishing Company

1995

  • Titles United News, 1945, from the series Über Dresden (Proper)
  • Artist Lawrence Gipe, American, born 1962
  • Medium photolithograph
  • Dimensions sheet: 39 15/16 × 28 7/8 in. (101.5 × 73.4 cm) image: 12 1/2 × 16 7/16 in. (31.7 × 41.8 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Susie and Scott Robertson, 2002.208.8
  • Work Type print
  • Classification Prints

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This vertically oriented black and white print loosely represents squares within squares. At the center of the sheet is a small (roughly one inch by one inch) white square, surroudned by a black square, surrounded by a white square, surrounded by a black square. The edges of these shapes are not well defined. The entire plate is used to create the composition.
Blue and mustard-color checked square.
Landscape of rust-colored dirt hills and some small pine trees.
The object is an oversized bronze sculpture of a reclining, longhaired female nude with an up-turned face. The figure rests on a fabric which drapes over a twelve-inch high base. The surface has a warm brown patina. The whole sculpture currently rests on base that raises it 21 inches off the ground. In this sculpture, Botero reinterpreted the odalisque, merging characteristics of primitive fertility goddesses with the voluptuous women of Rubens, Renoir, or Titian. Botero concentrates the heft in his figures at their center to attain the highest degree of volumetric expression and linear precision. His figures have been dubbed "Boteromorphs." Botero's art reflect the culture of his native Medellín, where pre-Columbian aesthetic traditions intermingle with the lingering influence of medieval Spanish Catholicism. Botero has also absorbed the influences of Diego Rivera, Henri Matisse, and others.