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Untitled (Face and Figure Study)
On View
Not on view
Object number2009.78

Untitled (Face and Figure Study)

Artist (American, 1915-1999)
Date1969
Mediummonotype
Dimensionsimage (flush): 10 1/8 × 14 1/4 in. (25.7 × 36.2 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LinePermanent Collection Fund
Exhibition History"Embracing Diverse Voices: African-American Art in the Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts," KIA Galleries 3&4 (Oct. 3 - Nov. 29, 2009). "Embracing Diverse Voices: 80 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Bakersfield Museum of Art (Dec. 13, 2012 – Mar. 10, 2013). "Embracing Diverse Voices: 90 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX (January 17 - March 20, 2016). "Passion on Paper: Masterly Prints from the KIA Collection," March 17 - July 15, 2018, Groos Gallery. "Expressionist Figure" January 19 - May 5, 2019 "The Expressionist Figure," at the KIA (January 19 - May 5, 2019). "Africa, Imagined: Reflections on Modern and Contemporary Art," KIA Gallerys 3 & 4 (January 22 - May 1, 2022)Label Text"This is another exceptional print in the KIA collection. Unlike any other print in the exhibition, it is truly unique. No other impression of it exists. Lee-Smith began by inking a plate and then drawing selectively on it. That work is the “white line” profile of the boy’s head in the lower right. Lee-Smith then placed this sheet of paper over that inked plate and drew the three heads and the full figure on the paper. The pressure of his pencil imprinted the design on the inked side of the sheet. The larger tonal areas on the left and right sides of the sheet were created by rubbing the paper while it was still attached to the plate. When Lee-Smith was satisfied with his effort, he lifted the sheet off the plate and revealed the printed image. This is the easiest way to make a print but in the hands of a master like Lee-Smith, the results are anything but simple. Monotypes like this are intimate works of art that place viewers quite close to the artist. Very little separates us from the direct contact Lee-Smith had with this sheet as he crafted this image (written by Nancy Sojka for Passion on Paper: Masterly Prints from the KIA Collection)."